Uganda 'needs more midwives'
27/04/2010
Uganda currently needs around 2,000 more midwives, it has been suggested, as at least 14 women die in labour every day in the country.
The problem is one of the leading factors in the nation's high maternal mortality rate, allAfrica.com reports.
According to the April 2009 Human Resource for Health Report, Uganda has one midwife for every 5,000 mothers, which falls far short of the World Health Organisation's recommendation of two such specialists at each birth.
"This means the number of women dying daily in labour fills a mini-bus," said senior midwife and trainer Mary Gorrettie Musoke.
Irene Akena, who is a midwifery advisor in the country's health ministry, stated that there are just 2,900 nurses of this sort in government health facilities and that a further 2,000 are required.
It was recently reported that almost one million people in Uganda are at risk of food insecurity, especially in the north-east of the country, because of four consecutive poor harvests.
Written by Clare Devlin
