Over 100 women on Monday besieged the director general for medical services in the ministry of health, Dr Jane Achieng, who was the guest of honor at the national safe motherhood day in Luweero district.
The women protested what they called rampant Maternity deaths in the country Dr Achieng’s ministry to address the problem.
The women from Luweero, Nakaseke and Kampala districts united under the Coalition against Maternal Deaths, besieged the guest of honor while she addressed people at National celebration for safe motherhood day.
The women demanded for government action on negligence of health workers and to immediately address the crisis of maternal deaths in the current financial year through supplementary budget that would fund recruitment and retention of 5000 additional midwives in lower level rural health centers.
The women emerged from crowds armed with placards marked with words ‘’safe motherhood is impossible without additional funding, 16 mothers die every day, is this safe motherhood, hear our petition,” among others. They stood still in front of Dr Jane Achieng but she continued to deliver her speech though the public attention was diverted to the petitioners.
After the speech, the director for medical services received the petition detailing the petitioners’ grievances in regard to increased maternal deaths but did not to comment on it.
Mary Nalubwama, a resident in Nakaseke says that the government should take action on health workers who neglect mothers at the time of giving birth because they account for many of the maternal deaths in the country.
She explained that women in villages are poor and health workers are dehumanizing them at the last hour when they come to give births leading to death.
Among the petitioners was a man, David Mugerwa from Nakaseke, who accused health workers at Nakaseke Referral hospital of reportedly neglecting his wife Irene Nanteza leading to her death while trying to give birth in the hospital in May this year.
Mugerwa says that his wife arrived at midday to give birth in the hospital but the health workers abandoned her until 9pm, when she died because of negligence by the workers. He says that unless government addresses the issue of negligence and low funding of the health sector, the maternal deaths cases will escalate.
Nakibuuka Musisi, an activist with the center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) says that though the ministry of health claims that the maternal mortality rates have reduced, the situation in the grassroots is worse and women are continuing to die due to lack of equipment and medical services.
The Women demanded for a supplementary budget of 75 billion shillings that could recruit 5000 midwives in rural health centers, and a tough action on negligent health workers to end preventable maternal deaths.
However, delivering her speech at the safe motherhood day, the director general for health services Jane Achieng admitted there are few midwives in lower health centers and noted that the ministry of health is considering recruiting more midwives up to the level of Health Center II in the next financial year.
According to statistics from ministry of health, at least 16 cases of maternal deaths occur per day in Uganda.
Women in various civil society organizations in mid this year petitioned the constitutional court on maternal deaths demanding court declaration that it is a violation of one’s right to life for expectant mothers to die for lack of basic maternal health care in government hospitals and the case is still ongoing.
