Rubanda MP launches basin project to boost facility deliveries
The Rubanda District Woman Member of Parliament, Honourable Evelyne Ninsiima Kikafunda, has launched a project to provide expectant mothers with incentives, like basins, in a bid to encourage them to deliver at health facilities.
The project, dubbed the Ninsiima Basin, targets Health Centre II and III facilities across Rubanda District and seeks to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. The project’s component includes jerrycan’s and maternal health registration books
Under the project, mothers who deliver at health facilities will receive basins to use for themselves and their newborns after returning home. Ninsiima said she had started the project with 2,000 basins and more than 100 jerrycans, with plans to expand it across the district in one year.
Speaking during the launch at Kaara Health Centre II in Muko Sub-county, Ikumba Health Centre III in Ikumba Sub-county and Bubaare Health Centre III in Bubaare Sub-county on Sunday, Ninsiima said the initiative was motivated by concerns over maternal and infant deaths, particularly among mothers who deliver outside health facilities.
She said complications such as high blood pressure and excessive bleeding can quickly become life-threatening when a mother gives birth without access to skilled health workers.
“When they give birth outside the health centres, the pressure is so high and they fail to control it and the veins rupture, or they get over bleeding. If they are not in health centres, they bleed to death,” Ninsiima said.
She said the provision of basins would also promote hygiene after delivery and reduce the risk of infections among mothers and newborns. Ninsiima said health facility records show that although many women attend antenatal care, fewer return to the facilities to give birth.
“People have been coming for antenatal check-ups, but on delivery the numbers are low. So I believe with these basins, mothers will be coming to deliver and then go with a basin home,” she said.
She said the project is intended to provide an additional incentive for mothers to seek skilled care during childbirth while supporting them with basic items needed during the postnatal period.
CUE IN NINSIIMA….ON THE PROJECT….RR/ENG//
The Rubanda District Health Officer, Dr David Mporampora, welcomed the initiative, saying it could improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
Dr Mporampora described the project as an innovation that could encourage more mothers to seek skilled birth services while promoting hygiene among mothers and newborns.
He said Rubanda District’s antenatal care coverage was high, standing at between 90 and 95 per cent, but facility deliveries remained relatively low.
“Our antenatal coverage is good. We are around 90 to 95 per cent, but our hospital or facility delivery is low,” he said.
Dr Mporampora said some mothers attend antenatal care at health facilities in Rubanda but later travel to bigger facilities, including Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, to give birth. He attributed the trend partly to perceptions that bigger health facilities provide better services and a lack of confidence in some lower-level facilities.
He said the initiative would help promote services available at lower-level health facilities and encourage mothers to seek skilled delivery closer to their homes.
“What Evelyn is doing is an innovation. First of all, she is going ahead to market the services provided at these facilities. She is telling the mothers that we provide these services and, even at Health Centre II and III, you can have a safe delivery,” he said.
Dr Mporampora said mothers with pregnancy complications can be referred to higher-level facilities by health workers instead of waiting until their conditions become life-threatening. He said encouraging mothers to deliver at health facilities would help reduce maternal deaths, particularly those resulting from delays in seeking emergency care.
He added that the basins and jerrycans would also promote hygiene among mothers during the postnatal period.
“During the first days after delivery, the mother requires a very high level of hygiene. Most of these incentives are missing in their households,” he said.
Dr Mporampora said the basin would provide mothers with appropriate equipment for bathing and washing clothes, helping to prevent infections. He described the initiative as an infection-prevention intervention that could complement efforts by health workers to improve maternal and newborn health.
CUE IN MPORAMPORA…ON THE PROJECT…RR/ENG//
On maternal deaths, Dr Mporampora said the district had recorded one maternal death in the previous year and another in the current financial year.
He said both deaths involved mothers who had delivered at home and sought health services after developing complications. On neonatal deaths, Dr Mporampora said the district’s rate was below one per cent.
CUE IN MPORAMPORA…ON MATERNAL & NEONATAL DEATH….RR/ENG//
Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Henry Musasizi, commended Ninsiima for initiating the project aimed at protecting the lives of mothers and babies across the district.
Minister Musasizi rallied residents and local leaders to take advantage of Ninsiima’s position to raise community needs at village, parish and sub-county levels.
He pledged to use his position to support efforts aimed at improving service delivery across Rubanda District.
