4 hours Ago By Bel Trew
I n the simmering heat of the afternoon, the women and girls - most of them mothers with babies strapped to their backs - wait anxiously at a pop-up family planning clinic in the depths of rural Uganda . That’s because the contraceptives and maternal health support they are receiving here for free are potentially life-saving - and they’ve all heard about the US cutting off aid . Twenty-five years ago, Uganda’s maternal mortality rate was among the highest in the world.
The work on family planning has been a major factor in reducing that rate by more than half. But this progress could be reversed with the abrupt disruption to the aid supporting it. In fact, there are fears that the global maternal mortality rate could rise, especially amid reports that President Donald Trump ’s aid cuts have wiped out more than $700 million in funding for maternal, child health , and family planning programs worldwide.
It comes as the World Health Organization has warned that maternal mortality rates are “already unacceptably high,” with a pregnant woman dying every two minutes in 2023. These concerns are clearly understood in Uganda, which is why most of the women have walked three hours in the intense heat, carrying their children, to attend the outreach clinic run by UK-based charity MSI Reproductive Choices. Barely able to feed their families on the meagre amount they have, they rely on the free contraception they get here and fear this could be their last chance.
One of them, teenage mother Annette, who made the long trek, was raped on her way to school three years ago. She gave birth at just 15, at great risk to her health, and doesn’t want to risk being forced to carry another baby if the worst happens again. Her best friend, who was also pregnant at the same time, bled to death from an unsafe backstreet abortion where twigs and herbs were inserted into her uterus.
Another mother, Harriet, 30, who has four living children and two who died from illnesses partially due to a lack of money, is worried that if she doesn’t have access to family planning, she will be pregnant every year. This will pile additional pressure on her body, her resources, and force her to “live like a chicken”. Something as simple as a $1 form of contraception can change and save their lives and livelihoods.
But with Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly halt US aid - and with other countries, including the UK, diverting aid funding to defence - there are fears that this access will not last. “It’s extreme pressure on us. Everyone wants you to be there, but we don’t have the resources to be everywhere,” Suzanne Oballim, MSI’s Social and Behavior Change Communications Coordinator, tells me.
While MSI’s programs globally have been affected, their programs in Uganda do not rely on US AID. But they have seen a huge increase in turnout at their bi-monthly outreach clinics as other organisations reliant on US AID have had to halt their work abruptly. “It’s traumatising to hear all of this,” she says referring to the teenage mothers who are waiting patiently for their turn.
“There is little we can do. Our hands are tied, and we can’t do everything as MSI.” It is unacceptable that in 2025, a pregnant woman is still dying every few minutes.
And it is unacceptable that this number may soar if family planning initiatives are defunded. As Peter Ddungu, Uganda’s Country Director of MSI, explains “the first pillar of safe motherhood is the provision of family planning”. It is a simple calculation: fewer unplanned births mean fewer potentially dangerous teenage pregnancies, fewer complicated pregnancies, fewer malnourished mothers struggling to feed themselves, fewer unsafe abortions, fewer pregnant people putting pressure on a shaky healthcare system.
In short, fewer mothers dying. And all for a few dollars a piece. This article was produced as part of the Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project.
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