Annettee Nakimuli

"I felt like we were accomplices in this war of sorts. People say we do not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. I did not want to accept that it was beyond hope.’"

"I would often see women who had had four or more Caesarean sections with no living child – they continued exposing themselves to the danger until they had a baby,’"

"It’s been called the ‘silent killer’ because many women cannot feel the danger sign that their blood pressure is rising until it’s too late. Even when it is detected the only course of action is constant monitoring, and ultimately the only cure is delivery – sometimes at too early a stage for the baby to survive,’"

"The placenta must invade the mother enough to access nourishment for the growing baby, yet not so much as to penetrate through the uterus"

"But why would women of African descent suffer so much more from pre-eclampsia than other women? ‘There was an assumption in Africa that there was a socioeconomic reason, like poverty,’"

"Placentation is a setting up of the territorial boundary between two genetically different individuals – the mother and her baby, who carries genes from the father. It needs to be in exactly the right place for both to survive and thrive.’"

"Because of the high rates of maternal mortality, a coping mechanism among Ugandan women is to consider pregnancy as being about bravery and fortitude"