University of North Carolina (UNC) Project on Friday handed over a modern maternity waiting shelter and labour ward to Kasungu District Hospital to solve the problem of space in the maternity wing.
The facility has been constructed with financial assistance from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the tune of K200 million.
UNC Project Country Director, Innocent Mofolo, said they constructed the facility after noting that the hospital used to face challenges in the provision of maternal and child healthcare services.
Mofolo said, apart from creating an enabling environment for healthcare workers, the waiting shelter and ward would go a long way in promoting the dignity of expectant women in the district.
“This facility is purpose-built as a labour ward. It’s going to improve service [delivery] because the number of delivery beds has increased to 12 and the number of beds has reached 42 comparing to what the hospital had [before construction of the new facility]. So, it’s going to be a huge relief to women because they will be delivering in a dignified space,” Mofolo said.
He said, before construction of the facility, Kasungu District Hospital had five labour beds, despite registering 45 deliveries on average daily.
Minister of Health and Population Services, Atupele Muluzi, said Malawi is one of the low income countries which are struggling to improve the delivery of health services.
Muluzi, therefore, said such projects are critical in ensuring that Malawi meets universal health coverage goals.
“Women will no longer deliver their babies on the floor. With the 12 delivery beds in the new ward, we can look after all expectant mothers that come through the hospital. The antenatal ward will also allow women in early stages of labour to have a bed where they can be monitored properly and prepare for labour in a relaxed way,” he said.
Leave a Reply