Feature: Gruesome child births push rural girls in Uganda into midwifery

Untold stories of gruesome childbirths compounded by cultural beliefs and remoteness are pushing young women in rural Uganda into midwifery to stop the trend.

Joyce Ilukori was forced to enroll for a midwifery course after she witnessed her cousin lose her baby.

"We were in the kraal when the labor pains started, she moved around while I flowed her perplexed what to do," Ilukori narrated her cousin's ordeal.

Ilukori's grandfather was in the kraal, traditional African village of huts, but could not offer any help because here in northeastern Uganda, also known as Karamoja, men are not allowed to engage the process of child delivery.

As the labor pains persisted, Ilukori's grandfather had no option but to get involved. With no skill at all, as the girl laid on her back, the grand father started to pull out the baby.

The baby came out in pieces, indicating that it had already died in the womb, according Ilukori.

"The baby came out in pieces but at least her life was okay. I said to myself if I get an opportunity I should become a midwife," Ilukori said.

Jennifer Amon, another young lady, now midwife, used to help her cousin deliver a baby in a kraal near the remote Uganda-Kenya border with no skill.

This was the second baby her cousin was giving birth to without any medical attention. The first baby died because of birth complications. The second one also almost died.

After giving birth, the placenta was not cut from the baby. Amon moved the baby to a health facility.

It is these life stories that are pushing young women in rural Uganda to stop the trend of pregnant mothers from dying while giving birth.

Ilukori walked tens of kilometers, jumped on the back of trucks to hand in her application for a midwifery course 300km away from her home.

She was taken on and she is now working here in Moroto, in the northeastern part of the country.

Amon escaped from her high school to go and sit entrance exams for the midwifery course.

Ilukori, Amon and hundreds of midwives in Uganda have cause to commemorate the World Midwife Day which falls on May 5.

Ilukori and Amon are among the beneficiaries of scholarships given by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to increase the number of midwives in Uganda.

The scholarships are given to young women who commit to work hard to reach areas for a specified period of time. The intention, according to UNFPA, is to attract midwives to these areas that ideally would be abandoned because they are remote.

"With this program, we have seen an increment in the number of midwives in the region, especially in Karamoja," said Steven Mucunguzi, a UNFPA official.

Since 2010 when the scholarship program started, UNFPA has sponsored over 400 students.

While UNFPA supports the increase of the number of midwives, Uganda has a deficit of 2,000 midwives, according to ministry of health.

Maria Najjemba, Country Midwifery Advisor at the ministry of health told Xinhua that because of this situation, the available number of midwives are over worked.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, a midwife is supposed to help deliver 175 babies a year but for Uganda, midwives help deliver between 300 to 500 babies a year.

As a stop gap measure, the government in 2010 recruited over 800 midwives, according to ministry of health.

"As we stand now, Uganda needs about 2,000 midwives to reach the WHO recommended status," said Najjemba.

She said they are lobbying government to have a policy shift in recruiting midwives. Midwives should be recruited based on the population in the area and not the number of health centers.

Many nursing and midwifery schools have opened in the country. Figures from 18 schools supported by UNFPA show a 100 percent increase in the number of admissions between 2010 and 2014 (1,066 in 2010 to 2,369 in 2014).

UNFPA argues that the issue of standards especially among private schools needs to be harmonized as some midwives do not meet the required standards. Endit