Turyakira’s pregnancy was 8 months old when she decided to walk across the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest from Nkuringo to stay with a friend near Bwindi Hospital. Alone and carrying her baby, a two and a half year old at the back, she had covered half of the 6 hour journey when she noticed she had started bleeding through the birth canal and decided to hurry to Bwindi Community hospital.
Walking for several hours on winding steep and sometimes slippery paths did not only make her tired but also became weaker as she lost more blood. She was now bleeding heavily. She could not reach any help but fought hard to get to the hospital. She realized she would not get to the hospital moreover carrying her baby at the back. She decided to leave the baby behind in custody of strangers she had not met before out of desperation.
Fortunately she got to the hospital alive but very weak to explain anything as her speech was uncoordinated now. The health team realized she was in shock following excessive bleeding and immediately gave her blood and water through her veins and rushed her for an emergency Cesarean section. Sadly, only her life could be saved. Her unborn baby had died. It was very sad indeed!
Dr. Gideon and the team did all it could to save Turyakira’s precious life and as they continued monitoring her closely, she regained consciousness and remembered her two and a half old baby. The baby was later located in Nkwenda Village some 2 Km away and brought to her. She was relieved. We were delighted to see her happy and recover completely.
Because our operating theatre is open 24 hours, the caesarean section rate increased from 5 to 10 per week, majority being referral cases .We perform at least two major operations and 15 minor ones per week
We plan to construct a surgical ward and begin urology and eye surgery camps.
Services
We have a dedicated surgical team led by Dr. Gideon Kuriigamba and it holds surgical clinics twice a month and an orthopedic clinic once a month. We regularly host a team of medical specialists from Switzerland for gynecological and surgical activities, also a team from the United States for orthopedic services. These teams selfishly give their time, energy and talent to enrich surgical activities for which we are very grateful.
How you can Help
The costs of running the operating theatre and paying the salaries of the highly trained staff who perform the surgeries and deliver anaesthetics are high. Each Caesarean section costs us $150, and we sometimes perform three a day. But three Caesareans can equal six lives saved. We have received help from the Macauley Foundation (read more) , Medshare and the Swarovski Crystal Society (read more) for this program, but still need more assistance. Any contribution, however large or small, will go directly to helping those most in need.
