Well On their Way believes that every woman, no matter where she lives, deserves to leave childbirth in good health, with a healthy baby in her arms.

With your support, you can help us make that vision a reality in northern Uganda. 

  The first 28 days of life are the most dangerous in a child's life. More than half of all deaths in children under five take place in sub-Saharan Africa, where 30% of the world's births occur. A baby born in Uganda is more than four times as likely to die during the newborn period than a baby born in the United States.

Well On their Way is a partnership between American physicians and Ugandan health care professionals working to improve delivery outcomes of mothers and babies in the Gulu District of northern Uganda. The district has a population of 135,000. However it is served by only twodoctors. Almost all care is provided by midwives, clinical officer and nurses. These are the frontline health care providers. WOtW exists to support their work!

OVER A DECADE OF TRAINING:

To ensure every front-line provider, in even the most remote two room clinic has the equipment, skills, and knowledge to correctly identify and manage maternal and newborn emergencies, WOtW has delivered six evidence-based Helping Mothers/Babies Survive training programs developed by the WHO:

• Helping Babies Breathe/Essential Newborn Care 1 (providing immediate ventilation for babies born with asphyxia)
• Essential Care of Every Baby/Essential Newborn Care 2 (important care and assessment within the first 24 hours of life)
• Bleeding After Birth (management of the mother with post-partum hemorrhage)
• Essential Care for Labor and Delivery
• Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia (identifying, managing and appropriately referring this life-threatening illness)
• Pre-Referral Care if High Risk of Preterm Birth (identifying mothers at risk of preterm labor, providing early management and appropriate referral)
  

The US and Uganda teams trained the Ugandan trainers, who in turn trained over 100 local health care providers at 26 health centers, scattered from each other in this very remote, impoverished region. We don't stop there...we provide continuous refresher training AND make sure that newly hired nurses, midwives and clinical officers receive this extensive training within a year of being hired.

EXPANDING OUR IMPACT

Having recently added two new initiatives, WOTW is now focused on three interconnected programs that strengthen the full continuum of maternal and newborn care:

1. Sustaining Helping Mothers/Babies Survive skills through ongoing refresher training
2. Village Health Team (VHT) Training – empowering community health workers to promote maternal and child health in their communities (new in 2025!)
3. Obstetric Point of Care Ultrasound - training ten midwives (new in 2026!)

 Each program reinforces the others. Better outcomes depend on strong systems that start in the village and lead to the health facility.

THE RESULTS

1. Sustained Skills: WOtW's Low-Dose, High-Frequency refresher training model has received national recognition and i s being adopted by Uganda's Ministry of Health.
2. Community Impact: More than 180 Village Health Team members have been trained and are already improving maternal and child health education in their communities. Yet 360 more VHTs still need training.
3. Ultrasound at the Point of Care: Ten midwives trained in 2026 have already performed hundreds of obstetric ultrasound scans, identifying high-risk conditions such as twin pregnancies, breech presentations, and abnormal placental locations earlier— allowing mothers to receive the care they need before complications arise.

GOALS FOR 2027

1. Provide more advanced ultrasound training to the ten midwives trained in 2026
2. Train another 180 VHTs in maternal/child health
3. Continue our focus on maintaining skills

Please join us as we continue to build and expand in collaboration with the Ugandan WOtW team, improving service delivery to mothers and babies throughout Gulu District making sure that every mother and baby in Gulu District is provided the best chances for a healthy start…so they are Well On their Way...and make your contribution even more powerful by sharing this via email, word of mouth, and social media.

We appreciate your one time donation and kindly ask you to consider becoming a monthly donor.

Thank you, Asante sana, Afoyo

The Well On their Way team

We appreciate your one time donation and kindly ask you to consider becoming a monthly donor.

Thank you, Asante sana, Afoyo

The Well On their Way team

The WOtW team: From left to right:  Public Health Nurse Richard Nyeko Ssemujju, Dr. Meg Carmel, Master Midwife Jacquelie Grace Olanya, Master Midwife Susan Apiyo,  Dr. Ann Markes, Medical Coordinator and Midwife Monica Akello, Ruth McDonald, and Dr. Matthew Kane