The Growing Need For Pregnancy Prevention

Annet lives in Malongo with her husband and children. Like many women in rural Uganda, she delivered most of her children at home, under the care of traditional birthing attendants. So when she went into labor with her most recent pregnancy, Annet wasn’t overly concerned. Her sister fetched their friend, a local birth attendant, and together they began to prepare for the baby’s arrival.

The traditional birthing attendant noted upon arrival that Annet’s last baby was born via c-section, and that significant scarring meant she could not safely deliver naturally. Annet needed an emergency c-section. Her husband, knowing that the family could not afford to pay for her transportation, or her surgery, began to panic. He did not want to lose his wife, but had no money to ensure she got the care she needed.

Faced with the choice of losing Annet and the unborn child, and having to raise their other children alone, they immediately went to Malongo Health Center III, one of the 353 public health facilities in partnership with Bulamu Healthcare and participating in its Health Center Excellence program (HCE). Members of the HCE team recognized that Annet was in distressed labor, and in need of an emergency c-section. They arranged emergency transportation for Annet to get to a Health Center IV, and paid for it, as well as her surgical delivery.

“Everything worked out in my favor because Bulamu’s team was on the ground. Had it not been there, I would be dead by now,” Annet said.

Bulamu is a lifeline to pregnant women in need in Uganda. Without access to emergency transportation, professional maternity care, and essential maternal and surgical supplies that allow for safe c-sections, more women and their babies would become statistics in maternal and infant mortality rates.