Life-Saving, Life-Changing Impacts in Oyam, Uganda
More mothers, their newborn babies and adolescents in the community are surviving and thriving thanks to women’s health groups.
Women and Children First worked with our partner Doctors with Africa CUAMM to establish 200 groups with funding from Comic Relief, the Big Lottery Fund, the Vitol Foundation and our supporters. Thanks to the groups and their inspirational leaders, there’s been a 22% increase in women attending 4 or more antenatal care visits.
200 teenagers have also been trained to become sexual health ‘adolescent champions’. They are sharing knowledge with peers, teens and friends, making them aware of available health services and their right to quality sexual and reproductive health care.
The women’s health group comes together in nearby Gulu District to discuss ways of overcoming maternal and newborn health problems
The Problems and Solutions
Oyam until 2006 was ravaged by decades-long conflict, described as ‘the worst forgotten humanitarian crisis in the world’. The region faces many challenges, including maternal, adolescent and child health.
1 in 277 births in Uganda ends in a woman dying in pregnancy, childbirth or shortly after birth, compared to 1 in 10,000 in the UK. Teenage pregnancy rates are 26%.
200 Health Groups were set up where women and adolescents decide which health problems they prioritise and what the community can do to help solve them. The project benefitted 31,223 women, adolescents and babies.
182 volunteer health trainers were supported and 24 health workers trained in youth friendly service provision. 9 health facilities were supplied with health commodities such as essential drugs and tests, and equipment including weighing scales and delivery beds.
Immaculate’s Story: “What I Learnt From The Groups”
Immaculate shares what she learnt about pregnancy and women’s health from the group meetings that she attended, using PLA - Participatory Learning Action - techniques.
The groups identify health problems and solutions: a technique pioneered and championed by Women and Children First.
Some of the topics covered include danger signs in pregnancy, the importance of antenatal care, and how men can help.
Women Taking Action Against Malaria
The main health problem for women, adolescents and children in Oyam is malaria. The swamps are rife with mosquitos that carry the disease.
Communities came together in the groups to take action. These included clearing the villages of mosquito breeding sites in overgrowth, reminding women to sleep under bed nets and to seek care if children show malaria symptoms so that they can receive timely treatment.
Almost all groups established health savings funds to help support out of pocket costs to prevent and treat malaria.
Agnes, pictured with her daughter Miriam
Agnes’s Story: “I Thought Miriam Wouldn’t Survive”
The catastrophic climate emergency has seen a sharp surge in the number of people suffering from malaria.
The youngest and pregnant women are most at risk. Some women are suffering heart-breaking miscarriages in pregnancy.
Agnes’s baby, Miriam, got a mosquito bite and became sick. “She was hot, yellow eyes, vomiting. She lacked appetite.” Agnes knew what to do, thanks to the help of her community health worker, trained by Women and Children First.
Rapidly Responding To Coronavirus Crisis
Women and Children First has been working to limit the impact of coronavirus by training women’s health group leaders and facility and community-based health workers, known as VHTs.
Radio broadcasts were used to provide Covid-19 prevention messages, as well as health advice via jingles and talk shows.
A mother with her healthy newborn baby
Making Ugandan Health Facilities Safe
This includes running training courses, providing supervision, purchasing additional PPE, buying megaphones to provide clear communication in communities and vehicle maintenance.
Dorcus’s Story: Safe Childbirth During Coronavirus
Coronavirus is killing women and babies, through its impact on health services. Women and their babies are therefore not getting the critical support they need, when they need it.
Dorcus shares her story about the fear she felt in getting a safe delivery at her health centre, and how the groups have helped.
Supporting Adolescent Girls
Outside of strictly health problems, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy were some of the most concerning issues for young people and their communities.
The situation of teenage girls in Oyam is complex and difficult: many live in great poverty, only 7% start secondary education and they face disadvantages due to their age and sex. There is also no sex education available to them.
On a few occasions, young people suffering abuse reached out to 1 of the 200 project-supported Adolescent Champions, who helped to link them with the project for support.
The mid wife, social worker and production team showcasing the finished facemasks
Giving Ugandan Girls Skills To Make Reusable Sanitary Towels, Cloth Masks and Liquid Soap
Half of girls miss school once a month because of menstruation. Less schooling puts them at risk of early marriage, domestic abuse, health problems and locks them in the cycle of poverty.
The adolescent champions have helped teenage girls make their own reusable sanitary towels, enabling them to attend school, supporting them with their lives and livelihoods.
Results and Key Achievements
In addition to these successes, the other key achievements of the project included a 4% reduction in adolescent pregnancies, prior to the Covid-19 outbreak and a 3% increase in the number of deliveries by skilled birth attendants, such as midwives.
There has also been a 27% reduction in women saying they face ‘many barriers’ to accessing the vital healthcare services they need.
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