Uganda’s National Safe Motherhood Conference - Day 2
Uniting Sectors to Save Mothers’ Lives
The second day of the Safe Motherhood Conference reinforced a powerful message: safe motherhood is not the responsibility of the health sector alone.
Ensuring that every mother survives childbirth requires more than medical care. Reliable transportation, clean water, adequate health workers, strong data systems, and local accountability all play a critical role in determining whether a woman reaches care in time — and whether she survives.
At BAMA Foundation, we are proud to put this multisectoral approach into practice through community-based innovation, capacity building, and data-driven accountability models that strengthen maternal and newborn health across Uganda.
Showcasing Innovation: The Mama Rescue Project
During today’s breakout sessions, Stella Nalubowa, our Mama Rescue Coordinator, presented her abstract titled:
“Pioneering cloud-based solutions to overcome transportation barriers and improve newborn health in rural Uganda.”
The presentation highlighted how BAMA’s Mama Rescue Project — a digital innovation connecting mothers in labour, those with maternal complications, and newborns with neonatal emergencies — is transforming access to timely transport and care.
The project’s technology-driven referral and transport system has demonstrated measurable improvements in maternal and newborn outcomes by:
Reducing delays in reaching care.
Strengthening community–facility linkages.
Enhancing facility preparedness through real-time communication and coordination.
By actively involving boda boda riders, drivers, Village Health Teams (VHTs), and midwives, Mama Rescue has fostered trust, ownership, and accountability at the community level. Improved antenatal care (ANC) attendance has also reflected stronger community mobilization and increased male involvement — both key to sustained maternal health progress.
Data, Partnership, and Scale
The project’s success underscores how digital coordination and data-driven decision-making can ensure timely emergency responses and improve the quality of maternal health care.
We recommend:
Scaling up and institutionalizing the Mama Rescue system across all sub-counties.
Strengthening coordination between community actors and health facilities.
Sustaining community sensitisation to promote early ANC attendance and facility-based deliveries.
When Sectors Unite, Mothers Thrive
As Uganda continues to pursue self-reliance and collaboration across sectors, BAMA’s story stands as proof that when transportation, health, technology, and community engagement unite around mothers — communities thrive, and the nation grows stronger.
