By Katy Woods, Global Mobilisation Coordinator, The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

As I arrived into Entebbe airport, the grin grew across my face as I was greeted by the warmth of the African sun and the Ugandan smile.

One more reason to grin is that I am back in the ‘Pearl of Africa’, in part, to record a success story. Since launching a district level campaign to promote recruitment and retention of midwives back in May, WRA Uganda has seen impressive increases in the numbers of health workers with midwifery skills.

In Kabale, a district on the border with Rwanda, and a tourism hotspot for gorilla trekking, women walk for 5 hours over extremely rough terrain, impassable by standard public transport, to get to a health clinic. They could hire the jeeps, common to ‘muzungo’ tours, but the cost of this is more than a whole month’s wages for many.

So they walk… and when they get to the clinic they need to be in luck to be met by a midwife. There should be 89 midwives in the region according to government indicators and before WRA began its campaign, there were only 12.  Due to intense advocacy work by the members in the region and engagement with key players such as the District Health Officer, Dr Patrick Tusiime – the number of midwives deployed has trebled in just 6 months. It’s a huge achievement – but celebrations can’t start too quickly when it is understood that this is still less than 50% of the required amount. All the same, it is much needed progress.

Barely two months ago, President Museveni made a commitment on the world stage to the mothers and children of Uganda at the UN Secretary General’s Strategy for Women and Children. He promised that his government would ‘ensure that comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) services in hospitals increase from 70% to 100% and in health centers from 17% to 50%’.

Just to put this into context, this means that of the 65 government hospitals across the country, at present only 45 of those hospitals provide emergency care for pregnant women… meaning 30% of hospitals provide no caesarian section and no blood transfusions when hemorrhaging occurs. Uganda is three times the size of England. In comparison, there are at least 168 NHS hospitals in England alone – and some pretty good roads to get you to one of them.

The Government of Uganda also promised to reduce the unmet need for family planning from 40% to 20%. Context needed here – 4 in 10 people cannot access contraception. 80% of pregnancies are unplanned or unwanted. Abortion is illegal. Unsafe (and unlawful) abortion is one of the biggest contributors to 16 women dying every day in the country from pregnancy related complications. There is an unforgettable image in my mind of a 16-year-old girl dying in front of me for lack of standard antibiotics having gone through a botched abortion. She was an hour’s drive from the next hospital but had no money to get there. Thankfully, she was saved – but many others aren’t.

So, the commitment from the government is welcome and now is the time to push harder for that commitment to be delivered. Today in Uganda the sense is that people are stepping up and taking action. Not a day goes by without the media covering a maternal health story – partly attributed to WRA building relationships between the media and health workers. The sheer number and power of influential politicians paving the way in passing bills and devising strategies on maternal and newborn health is invigorating.

Members of Parliament, including ex MP Beatrice Rwakimari, Global Board Member of WRA, pushed for the Inter-Parliamentary Union to focus on the right to safe childbirth at their next Summit to be held in Kampala in March – and they won.

In Uganda, the parliamentary champions are becoming more and more organized and more and more effective. In the last few days, as we have rushed from one meeting to the next with the Members of Parliament and influential leaders, there is a resounding sense that if we all Play Our Part, giving birth will no longer be one of the biggest killers of women in Uganda.

Step Up. Take Action. Play Your Part. Join WRA http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/