Health workers in West Nile have called on expectant mothers and their partners to consider regular visits to health facilities to prevent complications during labor.
This call follows several cases of maternal deaths during the labor process that have been reported from different health facilities across the region, while many mothers do not reach health centers.
The Coordinator for Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems in West Nile, Dr. Victor Afayo, reveals that most of the cases registered result from preventable causes of death.
"Yet most of these deaths were due to preventable causes and the bottlenecks are within our control system, if they were to be sorted, we could have removed some of these deaths" Afayo revealed.
According to records from the dashboard for West Nile, a total of 1,276 mothers died across the country in the Financial Year 2022/2023.
Of this, 95 cases were registered in West Nile districts. These include 25 in Arua City, 18 in Nebbi, 14 in Zombo, and 10 in Yumbe, among others.
A retired nurse in the region, Mary Andiandu, states that many expectant mothers wait for labor pains to start before going to health facilities, which is risky.
"Some wait for labour from home until the days for labour has passed in the names of labour to start, and then her expected date for delivery passes" she explained.
However, Arua City Senior Health Educator Bernard Amaga is now advising that stakeholders focus more on health promotion and disease prevention, which includes creating awareness in communities.
"We need to clearly note that 70% of the diseases are preventable and then also 70% of these conditions that result to dealth of our babies and mothers are also preventable. What we can do differently is to focus on promotion of health promotion" Amaga emphasised.
The health workers point out that failure to complete the recommended eight antenatal visits, as advised by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, and the high rate of teenage pregnancy are some of the major factors contributing to the high mortality rate in the region.
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BY: Sabir Musa, Photo Credit: NV
