BY ISAAC OTWII
LIRA, UGANDA – Authorities at Lira Regional Referral Hospital in Northern Uganda have raised alarm over inadequate infrastructures to accommodate expectant and postpartum mothers.
A senior nursing officer at the hospital, Sr Nanyongo Judith said inadequate infrastructures continue to force the hospital authority to prematurely discharge postpartum mothers upon delivery.
“Currently we are operating in a maternity ward that was built in 1927. It is almost a condemned building where we need a combined effort as a region to fight for a complete structure,” she told Rural Reporters.
“We lack patient trollies to transfer mothers from the maternity ward to the theater. Whereas, mothers with pre-eclampsia need immediate attention and any minute one spends without operating the mother has an impact on the survival of the mother and the baby.”
According to Sr Nanyonjo, pregnant women deserve close observation by health workers both during pregnancy, labor, and pheuperium for early detection of pre-eclampsia. Instead, new mothers are given advice on how to take care of babies from home.
“We are nursing all of them in one room. It is a ‘side room’ which has one bed. If we have five or seven mothers, they cannot be treated in this room because they ought to be isolated in a quiet room. For now, we spare some beds in the ward to keep them there.
“Still the (available) space is not enough for us to accommodate postnatal mothers. After delivery, we discharge the mothers and babies prematurely instead of allowing them to stay for at least one week for adequate observation.”
Sr Nanyonjo said one of the hospital staff has gone through a similar ordeal and both mother and child survived the ordeal by following the instruction to the letter.
Pre-eclampsia is the second cause of maternal deaths worldwide. In Uganda, it is the leading cause of maternal death at Mulago National Referral hospital which receives about 100 expectant mothers on a daily basis for antenatal care. The facility registers over 70 mothers annually with pre-eclampsia condition.
Ending pre-eclampsia
During the commemoration of world Pre-eclampsia Day last month, health facilities in Lira District called for support from both government and civil society organisations to enable them to save mothers and their babies.
Jino Okot, the medical officer in-charge of Ogur Health Center IV in Lira District recounted that there is need to improve the skills of the health workers to administer magnesium sulphate, a vital drug that is used in managing pre-eclampsia.
“Most of the health workers do not have the skills to diagnose pre-eclampsia. Some of them do not even know how to mix and administer magnesium sulphate. The Ministry of Health should understand that health workers need refresher training if we are to ably manage the condition,” Okot said.
Meanwhile, Beatrice Nyangoma, a Communications Officer at Coalition for health promotion and Social Development (HEPS-Uganda), advised the government to consider regulating prices of magnesium sulphate to improve affordability, availability, and accessibility.
In 2018, HEPS-Uganda conducted a survey which indicated that out of the 145 public, private and mission health facilities; only 53 had magnesium sulphate in stock.
Mr Edmond Acaka, the assistant District Health Officer and medical personnel in charge of maternal and child health at Lira regional referral hospital appealed to the ministry of health to come to the rescue of the district by increasing the budget.