Miracle babies: Mbabazi's journey to motherhood

We meet at the hospital during one of her scheduled appointments to get her three-month-old children vaccinated. Two girls, about 16 years of age each carry a baby while Madina Mbabazi carries the third baby.

Mbabazi (54) was born and raised in Kalungu District, central Uganda and was the only daughter among eight boys. At the age of 17, she was wedded in church but for nine years, she did not conceive and because her sisters-in-law kept talking ill about her, she was forced to leave her husband.

“My husband’s relatives were rude and impatient because I was not getting pregnant. They brought me untold misery so I decided to go back to my parents’ home,” says Mbabazi.

For four years, Mbabazi did not date anyone until she met her next husband.
“He had three children from a previous marriage and these became my children as I also prayed to God to bless me with a child. However, for the 10 years we were married, I did not conceive,” she recalls.

Just like with her first marriage, her in-laws were so unpleasant that other women in the neighbourhood advised her to seek help from traditional healers. She went to many and since her father had a lot of cows, he sold them to help his daughter get a child.

“My father hated the fact that I was unable to have a child and was willing to do anything to help me realise this dream. Apart from the witchdoctors taking so much of my father’s money, I bore the shame of being bathed with herbs while naked. However, I knew this was a dead end when one of them demanded to engage in sexual intercourse with me. Once again, I left my husband and went back to my parents' home,” Mbabazi recalls.

Fed up with relationships and marriage, Mbabazi now faced total misery because her father, the only person who understood what she was going through, had died. 

“It is hard to be barren in a land where many women give birth every day. Sad, emotionally distressed and fed up, I sold all my belongings and travelled to Kampala City,” she says, adding that because she could not afford the rent in Nansana, Kampala, where she lived, a friend, who resided on Kiyindi Island in central Uganda advised Mbabazi to move in with her. 

One day, two women visited and told her about a doctor who helps women conceive and gave her the contact. Mbabazi called the number and the doctor directed her to his offices and in 2014, she went to the offices but bounced twice. 

Hospital visit
“The third time, as I sat in the waiting area, a man walked past and when I realised it was Dr Ssali, I followed him. Unfortunately, I could not catch up with him but the receptionist scheduled an appointment after I paid the consultation fee,” she recalls.

When the doctor examined her, he found that she had several fibroids that required surgery.  After three months, she underwent another operation and in total, she had seven surgeries since her tubes were also blocked.

In 2021, when she completed the required treatment, she underwent  In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) but several attempts failed even after treating the underlying problems. 

“Dr Ssali attempted several times to help me conceive but all his efforts were in vain. Fortunately, I did not lose hope and I believed that I would one day have a baby,” she recalls.

In April 2022, she miraculously conceived and although she got severe morning sickness, she weathered it, only looking at the end result. Sometimes she would cry tears of happiness knowing she was going to be a mother at last.

“I took the necessary precautions as recommended by the doctor and at six months of the pregnancy, I was told that I was going to be a mother of three boys,” she recalls.

However, because of the weight of the babies, the cervix opened at seven months. The doctor recommended hospital stay until the babies were delivered.

Causes of infertility

Like Mbabazi, there are several women who cannot conceive and although some have been helped, their burden is just a tip of the iceberg since infertility is a global burden affecting 48 million couples and 186 million individuals.

In Uganda, about 15 percent of women that suffer miscarriages develop blocked tubes, according to Dr Tamale Ssali, a gynaecologist at Women's Hospital International and Fertility Centre in Bukoto, Kampala. This contributes to 50 percent of infertility rates among women in Uganda.

“Infections after termination of pregnancies can also lead to failure to conceive in most women. Some fibroid operations can instead cause tubal blockage. Low sperm count in men also contributes 30 percent of impotence in men,” he adds.

He also mentions a case of a woman who underwent premature menopause as early as 19 years. Such abnormalities are another cause of infertility in women.

“Polycystic syndrome (PCOS), a problem with hormones that affects women during their childbearing years, also causes blocked tubes.  Reports say, many women suffer this hideous infection unknowingly but its causes are also unknown,” he says.

Assisted reproductive techniques
Hormonal treatment, one of the assisted reproductive techniques, is useful for women that have irregular periods and ovulation problems.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) is applied in cases of men that suffer erectile dysfunction. It is also an option for men who want to continue having children even when they are away on long-term missions such military duty. In such a case, a sample of the man’s sperm is drawn, kept safe and later inseminated into the partner’s uterus after the agreed spacing.

Also, men that suffer from scrotal cancer, leukaemia and cancer of the pancreas usually have their sperm drawn before they undergo treatment if they desire having children.

The most common is the in-vitro fertilization (IVF), which is used when a woman has blocked tubes and the man has low sperm count. It is important to note that it is possible to diagnose sickle cell disease in an embryo before implantation under IVF. 

Cost
The cost of undertaking IVF depends on a number of factors but the whole process may cost you about $5,000 which is equivalent to Shs18.5 million. A couple may pay less or more, depending on the complexity of their cases.

The success rate of an IVF according to Dr Joseph Nsengiyumva, a gynaecologist at Bethany Women’s Hospital in Kampala, ranges between 35 percent and 50 percent. The success of IVF procedure largely depends on factors such as age of the woman, hormonal imbalance, high-quality eggs, sperms, and embryos. 

"A younger woman seeking IVF has a better chance of producing high-quality eggs that maximise her chance of getting pregnant when compared to an older woman. However, this does not mean that older women seeking IVF always fail," he says.