Lakeri Kageni is 26 years old and a mother of two children. Her first child was born in November 2017 and the second in January 2019, both safely delivered at Bukomolo Clinic. This means Lakeri has given birth to her two children within 14 months.
At our clinic, we are registering many mothers of conditions similar to Lakeri. Tradition in this community has that ‘the more children a woman has, the more she gains favor and protection from her husband’. However these women solely bear the burden of pregnancy with no support from their husbands and still it is their responsibility to feed, dress and find medical care for their children.
We’re now expanding our maternal services at the clinic to include substantial benefit on general health of women and promotion of good social support that involve men and other family members to effect proper decision making.
We want to ensure that individuals and couples have the information and services to plan the timing, number and spacing of pregnancies in addition to seeking antenatal care, post-partum follow-up, health education on pregnancy, breast feeding, and nutrition.
Uganda’s total fertility, maternal mortality, and teenage pregnancy rates remain among the highest globally. By improving the number of health structures in hard-to-reach places of which Bukomolo Clinic falls, the Government requires reach and provision of Family Planning services and method mix, including long acting, reversible, and permanent methods. These commitments will contribute to the nation’s ambitious goal to reduce unmet need for family planning to 10%.