NO DELIVERY OF BABIES AT MB. GOVT HOSPITAL

MBABANE – Despite all the facelift and necessary equipment installed at the Mbabane Government Hospital maternity ward, nurse midwives have vowed not to assist deliver babies until 33 new nurses have been employed.

The maternity ward was recently officially opened by the Prime Minister, Sibusiso Dlamini, after months of renovations.
Expectant mothers, who are in labour, are now being referred to other health facilities, as the Mbabane Government Hospital’s new maternity wing has become a white elephant, due to staff shortages. Currently, there are only 29 nurses available and there needs to be a total of 62 nurses posted within the maternity wing. 

The new maternity ward is fully-equipped with advanced equipment, ranging from the latest incubators, to other machines used to monitor contractions of the expectant mothers. All this cannot be put to good use because of staff shortages. The existing maternity ward has a capacity to carry only eight expectant mothers, including those who are not due for delivery.

This has seen about three women delivering babies in the hospital corridors recently, after they were turned away from the hospital, due to lack of space and inability to accommodate delivery cases.

One incident unfolded recently where other patients even recorded videos and took pictures while a woman, who had been told to go to another hospital, delivered along the corridors. Regional Chairperson of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Mngcineni Ndlangamandla said they could not risk using the maternity wing and kill expectant women.

Ndlangamandla said as a result, they have to refer patients to other facilities, including Mankayane and the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital. This, he said becomes expensive for the clients, but they could not compromise on personnel. He said they were troubled by the fact that they could not provide the service, despite that the equipment and everything else was available.
. . .

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: