Mr Precious Matilda Nassuuna. Photo/Courtesy
There is an upsurge of a disturbing but common practice in the labyrinth of health care, “unlawful detention of women and newborns post birth by hospitals due to unpaid medical bills. This practice disproportionately affects women who, at times are denied access to their newborn babies during the detention periods. This plight is often veiled beneath health institutions’ financial greed that places profit over patient care priorities and established human rights standards.
In Uganda, healthcare stands as a cornerstone of national wellbeing and development. The 1995 Uganda Constitution place the primary obligation to provide quality healthcare upon the state, however, healthcare disparities across intersecting demographics persist.
In such a poverty-plaguing country, the continuous practice of patient detention will only prevent women from delivering from health facilities, causing several health and wellbeing concerns of newborns and mothers as well as regression in the gains made towards reducing maternal mortality rates.
This, therefore, calls for an urgent and well thought exploration of the legality and implications of such practice. Patient detention not only violates basic human rights but also endangers the health and wellbeing of their babies.
Primarily, hospitals are not legally designated as detention facilities. According to Article 23 of the Constitution, people can only be detained in places authorised by law. Detaining mothers has turned hospitals into prison cells, exposing both mothers and the newborns to severe repercussions at their most vulnerable moments.
Unlawful detention has far-reaching and profound implications on the newborns. Article 9 0f the Convention on the Rights of the Child enshrines this fundamental principle and it is similarly reaffirmed under Article 34 of the Constitution of Uganda. The Children Act and the National Child Policy of 2020 strongly re-echo the best interest’s principle.
Separation of newborns from their mothers disrupts the early bonding period between a mother and her child, which is crucial for the baby’s development. The child’s emotional development is adversely affected as a result of this separation. It has been proven that the first days after the birth of the child play a significant role in the mother-child bonds and the child’s ability to adapt to the new environment is significantly enhanced when they are in the presence of their mothers.
In an era where neonatal care is paramount, this practice prevents newborns from fully accessing essential needs. Newborns solely rely on their mothers for basic needs such as breastfeeding, warmth, and comfort. Thus, separation due to detention leads to inadequate breastfeeding, essential for providing necessary nutrients and antibodies and can lead to malnutrition, weakened immune systems, and a heightened vulnerability to infections and diseases.
Government must enforce strict laws that prohibit this unethical and illegal practice. Financial support to maternal health care can be used as a stopgap measure to address this practice. Hospitals themselves must adopt more compassionate policies, focusing on service rather than profit.
The government must also increase funding for public hospitals and health in general since the practice of unlawful detentions thrives where private expenditure as a proportion of total expenditure on health is high.
This will go a long way in ensuring equitable access to maternal health care services and addressing this practice of patient detention. Unlawful detention of mothers by hospitals creates a traumatic start of life for newborns and leads them from birth to bondage.
Ms Precious Matilda Nassuuna, Law Student – Makerere University
