Uganda, April 28 -- Esther Ishimwe, a resident of Lukaya Village in Lukaya Town Council, Kalungu District, still remembers the confusion in the delivery room - the moment anticipation turned into alarm.

Her son, Sam Muwanguzi, was born with encephalocele, a rare and life-threatening condition in which part of the brain protrudes outside the skull in a sac-like formation.

Doctors say if left untreated, it can lead to infections, neurological damage or death.

During pregnancy, Ms Ishimwe attended all her antenatal visits. At nine months, an ultrasound was done to guide delivery, but she was only told that the baby's neck appeared to be entangled in the umbilical cord. Nothing clearly pointed to what lay ahead.

"When labour started, ever...