Forum Theatre on Maternal and Infant Mortality in Uganda

On January 17, 2011, this forum theatre piece was performed for about 100 people in Budondo village, Uganda. The purpose was to assess interest in starting a Women's Reproductive Health Center to serve Budondo and 8 neighboring villages.

The projected outcome of the health center is accessible and affordable health services, improved nutritional intervention for children and mothers, guidance and counseling services, and reduced maternal mortality, infant mortality and neonatal mortality rates in the these villages.

Our story is about a pregnant woman whose husband forced her to work in the garden even when it seemed she would give birth anytime. When labor pains started the husband had gone drinking and when he came back he did not take mind about her until her children took her to a local birth attendant, who was inexperienced. The local birth attendant kept on giving the woman herbs to drink with the hope that if the woman delivered, she would get money and also get recognition as an experienced birth attendant. When the local birth attendant saw that the woman could not deliver and that her condition was deteriorating, she advised that the woman should be taken to a hospital, which was 25 km away. Shortly afterwards, the woman died.

During the presentation of the Forum Theatre play, 'spectactors' came to replace the woman in labor, the children, the motorcyclist who was taking the woman to hospital, the husband and the local birth attendant. This was followed by much discussion about the need for reproductive services in the villages.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Forum
• Theatre
• Maternal
• Infant
• Mortality
• Uganda
• women
• health
• village
• Africa
• drama
• Budondo
• pregnancy
• midwife
• labor
• reprodu