MILCOT General Clinic responding to Obstetric emergencies in marginalized communities.

The case of a delivery conducted in church.

MILCOT General Clinic

Despite the fact that every woman deserves to deliver in a conducive environment which ensures safe and well being, minimizing risks and promoting positive outcomes, the story tends to be a bit different in the marginalized communities that we serve in. MILCOT General Clinic was established in partnership with Vaka Health Foundation with aim to increase access to maternal and child healthcare services among marginalized communities of Nansana Municipality through midwifery Virtual clinics where patients get access to a midwife at anytime anywhere.

Here is one of our experiences of working within marginalized communities, I happened to conduct a delivery case of a woman in crisis emergency. On 30th Sept 2025 in the late evening at around 7:30pm , a pregnant woman - Linda (not real name) , experienced her labor while at home, it happened to be quick that she delivered on the way before reaching the government health facility where she attended her antenatal care from. Unfortunately this mother does not own a phone so when her labor started, she had no ways to call her husband who had not yet returned from work. She managed to hardly walk to get to the road to get a means of transport however she couldn’t reach due to severe contractions hence branched to the nearby church where she found about 3 ladies who were about to close church and leave following the end of their evening prayers and these helped her to call her husband. They helped her and spread a mat on the floor for her to be waiting there as the husband comes. In about 10minutes before the husband arrived, the ladies noticed that the baby's head was coming out and they quickly contacted MILCOT General Clinic for professional support. I quickly picked my obstetric emergency kit and rushed to the church which is about 5minute walk away. I found the helpless mother lying on a mat in a pool of blood desperately asking for help, the baby had been delivered lying on the cold delivery surface (mat), crying, partially covered with a light cloth and the cord stretched pulling on a placenta that was still in.

Supporting the mother to breastfeed, baby suckled well.

This was a tough situation for me to provide efficient midwifery care however I used my best knowledge and skills and managed to put both mother and baby out of danger despite the limited resources. I am deeply humbled to have supported this mother through this life threatening situation, she was prevented from over bleeding and the baby was prevented from potential asphyxia and hypothermia. I am grateful that as a midwife through the work of Midwife-led Community Transformation (MILCOT), I am this close to the people. At this point I wished if this poor mother had been empowered economically, she would not be one who does not even own a phone, if the health system was strong enough, perhaps she would have been picked by an ambulance and took her to the hospital in time. As MILCOT and Vaka Health Foundation, we believe in holistic empowerment of communities because this way, the community members can survive and thrive with safe livelihood and this is our mandate.

Fortunately, just after making the mother and her baby boy comfortable, her husband also arrived with whom we transferred them to MILCOT General Clinic for further postnatal care in a conducive environment. This was also a huge opportunity for me to provide more health information to the couple including immunization and family planning counselling especially since this is their 5th baby. With our affordable high quality midwifery care at MILCOT General Clinic, mother and baby were discharged on 1^st Oct 2025 both in good condition. The couple was extremely happy and thankful for the care and support as for us at MILCOT, this is our joy to put a smile on the faces of people like Linda and her husband.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bbd3d8_49b4f351ded14c6f8e722831a8598cf8/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Making the mother and baby comfortable before taking them to MILCOT General Clinic for further postnatal care

This story has been precise and evident enough to call for improvement of Uganda's health system and to speak to all countries and global stakeholders who are still taking long to increase investment into midwifery sector.