‘Improper, inhuman and a violation of their rights’: an eyewitness account of a labor ward

KC Williams Moi’s eye witness account of conditions in the labor ward of Lira hospital, northern Uganda.

I had gone there to visit my relative who had delivered a newborn baby but was not discharged from the hospital. What I discovered when I got there left me stunned and amazed.

To my surprise I witnessed the nurse on duty ordering three women who were in labor to get off their beds and get underneath them so they could be used for other patients.

It was amazing work not amazing grace. They obeyed. The nurse was not kind but used commanding words. She counted one, two, three patients under their beds – all women having labour pains who were resting, having been admitted to wait for delivery.

The nurse claimed the hospital wards were so congested it could not accommodate any more patients. But at the same time urged others to vacate for more admissions and later brought in more women into the same congested ward.

I looked closely at the women in labour waiting under their bed. Their treatment was improper, inhuman and a violation of their right to decent accommodation and safe maternal deliveries.

Initially I was I was chased away from the labor ward when I entered, bringing to my attention the fact that this means men cannot accompany their women into labour wards. In Uganda this may be why men feel discouraged from attending their wives births; simply because they are not allowed in.

In another ward (the new natal ward), the one my relative Naomi was in, the nurse brought three more patients who had been operated upon.

Since last Wednesday, my relative, who had delivered a baby girl, was still bleeding. She complained of lack of care from the nurses. She says the nurses leave patient care to the relatives, despite being paid for their work. My relative was very weak and could not talk easily. She felt a lot of pain.

I told another relative not to accept it if Naomi was ordered to be moved from her bed nor to accept any transfer or other instructions because all these women – whether in labour, operated upon or having given birth –were patients with equal rights to healthcare. How could staff dislodge them from their beds and send them onto the bare floor underneath while other patients lay on top? It was quiet amazing and perplexing.

To my own outlook the hospital in Lira was congested. Some patients plus their attendants [visitors] lay down in the town, whereas others sleep outside the wards. Many attendants cook nearby and eat outside the same place. Although the toilets were nearer to the wards, there were no indoor flush toilets, which would have helped the pregnant women ease themselves.

Pregnant women who were in pain and waiting to deliver were in close proximity to others who had delivered normally. I also witnessed patients dress their wounds, some of which had become infected after delivery as others ate food nearby. I saw women vomiting, again with others eating nearby, while others set about cleaning the remains of their delivery (the after birth). The whole situation led to nasty, dour smell in the ward. Many ladies sat along the veranda because it was too congested, hot and unpleasant inside.

At one point I saw a woman looking for a nurse to help deliver her baby who could not find help. Oh! What a poor Ugandan health sector status. Although we are independent we are not yet maternally independent health wise.

The fact is Uganda’s women deliver with many problems. Just imagine: a poor Uganda woman suffering in a Ugandan hospital. There is still a lack of equipment in the maternal health sector, few health workers and poor services. What should we do to avert this situation?

We must demand to know what the government plans to put in place to rectify the appalling situation at this hospital and others like it.