Uganda: 15% of Pregnant Women in Uganda Face Childbirth Complications – Officials

Experts have painted a complex picture of maternal health in the country, indicating that 15% of pregnant women face childbirth complications.

While a majority of pregnant women can deliver safely without a doctor’s intervention, a significant portion still faces life-threatening complications.

Speaking during a media engagement during the national safe motherhood day organised by the Ministry of Health and USAID at Fairway Hotel in Kampala, Dr. Richard Mugahi, a senior official from the Ministry of Health, revealed that 85% of pregnant women in Uganda are able to deliver naturally without needing specialized medical care. However, he emphasized the urgent concern that 15% of all pregnancies equivalent to around 200,000 women annually are likely to experience complications. These complications range from hemorrhaging and infections to obstructed labor and pre-eclampsia, which often require immediate medical attention to prevent fatalities.

“Every pregnancy is different, there those women that can actually deliver themselves from wherever. Actually, 85% of all pregnant women can deliver without even a doctor. Now, there is that 15% which we don’t know. Who is in that 15%?. 15% of all the pregnant women will get a complication during childbirth,” Dr Muhagi said. A worrying reality is that 15% of deliveries still occur in villages, often without skilled healthcare providers. In such rural areas, access to maternal health services remains limited, with women relying on traditional birth attendants or neighbors. This poses a significant challenge in managing emergencies, especially for those experiencing complications.

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Dr. Muhagi urged women to give birth under the care of skilled birth attendants. He emphasized that, in case of complications, lack of timely access to healthcare facilities can lead to fatal outcomes. “So Ministry of Health is saying is that please, women don’t deliver from the villages, even if we have told you 85% we deliver normally, because the time you get a complication, the facility is very far from you, we cannot respond. For example, if you started bleeding, you only have two hours to live. There must be a system that saves you, even though two hours, if you develop high blood pressure, you only have probably three hours to live and life is gone. So that is why we are saying 100% of all women should deliver under skilled birth attendance.”

According to the Uganda Demographic and Healthy Survey(UDHS), Uganda produces around 1.5 million babies annually, meaning that thousands of women face health risks during childbirth. This year’s theme for the safe motherhood celebration is “Strengthening community engagement for sustainable maternal and child health.” Dr. Daniel Kyabayinza, the Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Health, noted that the ministry has made significant progress in promoting safe motherhood. “We have reduced maternal mortality ratio from 336 to 189 per 1000 live births. We have been able to reduce neonatal mortality from 27 to 22,000 live births. We have reduced infant mortality from 43 in 2016 to 36,000 live births, and we’ve been able to reduce under five mortality from 64 and 2016 to now 52 per 1000 life births.”

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