In Gulu City, a pregnant woman named Eunice Aber, 27, gave birth to a healthy baby boy by the roadside after going into labor while being transported to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital. Eunice was on a boda boda motorcycle when she realized she couldn’t make it to the hospital in time.
She delivered the baby near the Gulu Regional Blood Bank in Bardege-Layibi Division with the help of concerned passersby and nearby health workers who assisted in the safe delivery.
Kenneth Odong, the boda boda rider who was transporting Eunice, mentioned that she was alone when he received the call to take her to the hospital.
Maurice Odoch, another boda boda rider who had offered to secure an ambulance, found out that there was no fuel in the ambulance and that there were limited nurses available to attend to Eunice outside the hospital. Despite his efforts to seek assistance, the situation remained challenging.
Eventually, Eunice was transported to the Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Maternity ward in a Red Cross ambulance after earlier attempts to secure one at the referral hospital were unsuccessful.
When visited at the maternity ward, Eunice expressed gratitude to the first responders who helped deliver her baby safely. She mentioned that she was not expecting to give birth on that day and had initially gone to the hospital to inquire about the delay in her delivery. However, she suddenly experienced intense labor pain.
Eunice plans to name her second child “Miracle” and sees the birth as a blessing from God. Both mother and baby were admitted to the maternity ward, and despite the unexpected circumstances, they were in good health.
“I didn’t know I would deliver today (Wednesday) because I wasn’t in so much labor pain compared to my first daughter. When I felt the pain, I chose to travel to the hospital to inquire from the doctors about the delay but the labor pain struck me hard,” she said.
Aber plans to name her second child who weighed 3.6kgs at the birth as Miracle. “I feel today was a blessing from God, I still can’t believe I would deliver the way I did,” Ms Aber said.