🩺
Stop Maternal Mortality
Countries🇺🇬Uganda
WHO · UNICEF · UN IGME 2024← All Countries
🇺🇬
Maternal & Child Mortality
in Uganda
East Africa · #22 of 30 worst globally
Child Deaths Since Jan 1, 2026
0
58.2 per 1,000 live births · Uganda
Deaths at Birth Today
0
est. newborns today
Infant Mortality Rate
58.2
per 1,000 · 2.2× world avg
Maternal Mortality Rate
284
per 100,000 · 1.4× world avg
Flag of UgandaEast Africa
Birth Mortality Crisis

Mothers & Newborns
Dying in Uganda
During Childbirth

284 maternal deaths per 100,000 — Uganda's relatively lower rate reflects significant investment in 170,000 community health workers.

Newborn & Infant Mortality
58.2deaths per 1,000 live births
2.2× the world average
Maternal Mortality During Birth
284deaths per 100,000 live births
1.4× the world average
👶

Newborn & Child Deaths During Birth in Uganda

Uganda has been an HIV control success story — prevalence dropped from 18% in the 1990s to ~5% today. The north, affected by the Lord's Resistance Army until 2006, continues to have worse outcomes.

Steady improvement since 2000. Uganda is one of few sub-Saharan countries on a credible path toward SDG targets.

Leading Causes of Child Death at Birth
Neonatal causes27%
Malaria26%
Pneumonia14%
Diarrhoea12%
HIV/AIDS6%
Other15%

* Neonatal deaths (first 28 days) represent the largest share of under-5 mortality.

What Happens in the Delivery Room
🏥
Births in a health facility~82%
estimated — lower in conflict/rural areas
👩‍⚕️
Skilled birth attendant present~50%
doctor, midwife or trained nurse
⚠️
Neonatal deaths (first 28 days)48%
of all under-5 deaths occur at birth
🩸
Most preventable with skilled care~75%
of child and maternal deaths
🤱

Maternal Mortality During Birth in Uganda

Uganda's Village Health Team programme — 170,000 trained community health workers — has been transformative for rural maternal care. However, the anti-homosexuality law (2023) has caused significant aid withdrawal.

Consistent improvement over 20 years. 2023 anti-gay law risks cutting external health funding.

Causes of Death During Labour & Delivery
Haemorrhage26%
Eclampsia20%
Sepsis17%
Obstructed labour15%
HIV in pregnancy10%
Other12%

* Haemorrhage and eclampsia together cause over 50% of deaths — both are treatable with basic skilled care.

Why Mothers Die at Birth Here
🩺
Emergency obstetric care availableLimited
few facilities can manage haemorrhage
🩸
Blood transfusion accessCritical gap
haemorrhage kills within 2 hours
💊
Magnesium sulphate (eclampsia)Often absent
costs $1 — saves lives instantly
If skilled care were universal~75% fewer deaths
WHO estimate for this mortality level
⚠️

Why Is This Still Happening?

Structural Barriers to Safe Birth in Uganda
HIV success story — 5% prevalence still drives maternal deaths
High fertility rate (4.7) creating large absolute burden
2023 anti-homosexuality law causing international aid withdrawal
LRA legacy — northern Uganda still recovering
🎯
SDG 3 Progress Assessment

Uganda is one of few countries in the region on a credible SDG trajectory, though political decisions risk derailing progress.

💡
Prevention & Solutions

How Can We Prevent This in Uganda?

📍 The Situation

Uganda has made significant progress on maternal mortality and has a relatively active global health research environment. Several POCUS implementation studies have been conducted in Uganda by Makerere University and international partners, providing a strong evidence base.

🔬 How Ultrasound Helps

Uganda is, in many ways, a model for what a scaled POCUS program can look like. Pilot programs have shown that midwives trained in basic OB POCUS in a 5-day intensive course can accurately identify malpresentation, placenta previa, and gestational age — and that this capability meaningfully changes referral patterns and outcomes.

🎓 The Training Gap

The challenge in Uganda is not proof of concept — it is national scale-up. Training through GUSI's structured curriculum and certification process, recognized by national health authorities, would support that transition from successful pilots to nationwide standard of care.

🩺
Global Ultrasound Institute · GUSI
The training that closes the gap exists today.

GUSI trains physicians, nurses, midwives, and community health workers in Point-of-Care Ultrasound — the technology that detects the conditions killing mothers and babies before they become emergencies. OB POCUS · Pediatric POCUS · Primary Care POCUS · Online & in-person.

What a trained provider can detect with a portable ultrasound device
🩸Placenta previa
🔄Malpresentation
👥Twin pregnancy
📉Fetal growth restriction
Pre-eclampsia markers
🫁Childhood pneumonia
💉Internal bleeding
🧠Hydrocephalus
🧮
Interactive Model

POCUS Impact Calculator — Uganda

Model based on: 600 scans/provider/year · 15% high-risk detection rate · 47% mortality reduction for detected cases (Swanson et al. 2014 · WHO POCUS in LMICs review)
50
1 provider250500 providers
Scans per Year
30,000
pregnant women screened
High-Risk Detected
4,500
flagged for referral / intervention
Maternal Deaths Prevented
19
mothers saved per year
Newborn Deaths Prevented
47
babies saved per year
Total Lives Saved Per Year
66deaths prevented
1.3
lives per provider
$375
est. cost per life saved
$24,750
total training investment

* This calculator uses a conservative evidence-based model. Actual impact varies by deployment context, provider experience, and health system capacity. Training cost based on GUSI OB POCUS Essentials (~$495/provider). Mortality reduction from peer-reviewed POCUS implementation studies in low-resource settings.

Technology & Education

A Practical Plan to Bring POCUS to Uganda

🗺️ Our Plan to Bring POCUS to Uganda

Our goal is to partner with GUSI (Global Ultrasound Institute) and leading portable ultrasound manufacturers to place life-saving diagnostic tools directly in the hands of trained local providers across Uganda — so that dangerous complications are caught early, not discovered too late.

  1. Start with the ground truth.Our plan begins by mapping what already exists — facilities, referral pathways, blood supply, and the midwives, nurses, and physicians who are closest to mothers at the moment of crisis.
  2. Train local champions through GUSI.We enrol a core group of local providers in GUSI's OB POCUS Essentials and Pediatric POCUS courses — then certify them to train others, so the knowledge multiplies without depending on outside experts indefinitely.
  3. Put the right device in the right hands.We partner with portable ultrasound brands — Butterfly iQ+, Philips Lumify, GE Vscan Air — to source devices suited to Uganda's power infrastructure, connectivity, and budget. No unnecessary complexity, just what works in the field.
  4. Build a referral system around what the scan finds.A scan without a clear next step saves no one. Our plan defines exactly what to look for, which findings require immediate referral, and how to document everything at the point of care — so no warning sign is lost in translation.
  5. Sustain it through ongoing quality assurance.Regular image review sessions, outcomes tracking, and refresher training keep skills sharp and standards high — turning a one-time intervention into a durable change in how care is delivered.
📡 Recommended Portable Ultrasound Devices
🦋 Butterfly iQ+
Website →
Single-probe whole-body device covering OB, cardiac, lung, and FAST exams. App-based platform with built-in AI guidance. Designed for low-resource environments — charges via USB and works with any smartphone.
🔵 Philips Lumify
Website →
App-based probe that plugs into Android phones. Multiple transducer heads available for OB and point-of-care use. Widely used in GUSI-supported training programs globally.
🟢 GE Vscan Air
Website →
Wireless, pocket-sized dual-probe handheld. Streams live images to a smartphone app. Excellent battery life — purpose-built for rapid bedside OB and FAST-style assessments.
🔷 Clarius HD3
Website →
High-resolution wireless handheld. Multiple probe configurations available. Strong image quality in a compact form factor — suitable for OB, lung, and neonatal scanning.
Global Ultrasound Institute · GUSI

The training that closes the gap — built for providers in settings like Uganda

GUSI trains physicians, nurses, midwives, and community health workers in Point-of-Care Ultrasound. Courses are designed from the ground up for providers in resource-limited settings — short, practical, competency-based, and available online or in person. Every course maps directly to the conditions killing mothers and babies during childbirth.

50+
Countries trained
OB · Peds · Emergency
POCUS specialties
Online + In-person
Flexible delivery
WHO-aligned
Curriculum standard
Available Courses
Online + hands-on
OB POCUS Essentials
The core obstetric ultrasound curriculum — fetal presentation, placenta location, amniotic fluid, gestational age, and fetal heart. Designed for physicians, nurses, and midwives with no prior ultrasound experience.
Learn more →
Online + hands-on
Pediatric POCUS
Point-of-care ultrasound for newborn and child emergencies — pneumonia, pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade, intussusception, and more. Critical for settings where neonatal and child mortality is highest.
Learn more →
Online + hands-on
FAST & Emergency POCUS
Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma — rapid detection of internal bleeding, haemothorax, and pericardial effusion. Life-saving in obstetric haemorrhage settings.
Learn more →
On-site program
Global Health Initiative
GUSI partners with hospitals, NGOs, and governments to deploy POCUS training at scale in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America — including train-the-trainer models for local sustainability.
Learn more →