The Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine, has asked all medical practitioners in the country to utilize the available resources in their health facilities to reduce maternal mortality resulting from postpartum hemorrhage.
While launching the Postpartum Intervention Framework to Accelerate Reduction of Maternal Mortality due to postpartum hemorrhage for the Financial Year 2020/2021, Atwine decried the tendency of some senior medical practitioners who neglect mothers during and immediately after giving birth.
“If we can properly use the resources we have from Government and partners, we can implement cost effective measures which can reduce on maternal deaths,” she said.
Atwine also pointed out that if all health workers can honourably play their roles, they can make a big change towards saving the lives of children and mothers.
“We have very many skilled people as well as policies and guidelines but we have not made good use of them. I asked Dr. Olaro to make a census about those guidelines and policies to find out whether they have made an impact to the health sector,” she added.
Atwine also called out senior medical staff who spend less time at their duty stations, prompting unnecessary referrals “yet they continue earning salaries.”
“Wherever we go to Kawempe every Monday, all referrals are made by nurses instead of the seniors, most of these ones don’t indicate proper reasons for the referrals.”
She, however, promised that she is going to work hand in hand with other top officials at the Ministry to ensure that they prioritize elimination of maternal deaths.
Dr. Rose Mukisa, the Executive Director of White Ribbon Alliance – an organization advocating for women’s access to quality health care, revealed that their recent survey proved that mothers prefer to have all health facilities in their regions equipped with enough blood and its products.
“Other requests by the women and girls included having a respectful , dignified health care where they are well received and cared for,” Mukisa said.
She added that White Ribbon Alliance aims is to ensure that women’s voices are heard as one of the channels through which sustainable development may be registered.
Postpartum Hemorrhage is defined as blood loss of 500 mls or more in a vaginal birth or 1000 mls or more in a cesarean section that occurs within 24 hrs of child birth.
The National Annual Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response for the Financial Year 2019/2020 in Uganda registered a decrease in maternal health from 438 per 100,000 live births to 16 deaths per 1000 live births (HSDP 2015/16 – 2019/20).
