Labour ward lacks bed for women to give birth

BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE

Lack of beds at NRH’s labour ward.

INADEQUATE beds for pregnant women at National Referral Hospital’s (NRH) labour ward is a current medical situation the Obstetrics and Gynecology (O&G) department is facing.

This was expressed by Dr Loo Zixi, an obstetrics and gynecology doctor, specializing in urogynecology and high Intensity Focus ultrasound of uterine fibroid ablation (HIFU) from the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, (KMUH) in Taiwan.

During the month of November she served NRH’s O&G department, held trainings and assisted in gynecology surgery.

Zixi emphasized that one of the difficulties pregnant women experience in the department was not having enough beds.

She said on a daily basis they often have 12 to 17 deliveries, however with only 10 beds available.

Zixi added that at times two women would have to share one bed while some of them had to sleep on the floor.

She went on to say other challenges experienced in the O&G department are; inadequate medical facilities in the labour ward, exhausted antiseptic solution and improper sterile facilities that might increase puerperium and surgical site infection rates.

Zixi hopes that there will be some changes in the future to improve the status of the department.

A number of recommendations made by Dr Loo Zixi to help bring the department to a level to better serve women include; raising awareness on the importance of regular prenatal care, reducing syphilis infection in pregnant women, creating a “Mother classroom” for the pregnant mother for prenatal health education and breastfeeding, health education about the importance of perineal irrigation and care to reduce puerperium infection, annual pelvic ultrasound and pap smear to screen out gynecology malignancy and medical skill sharing with gynecologic cancer surgery and vaginal mesh surgery demonstration for pelvic organ prolapse and urine incontinence.

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