By Felix Basiime

MBARARA Hospital is congested, with the maternity ward being the most affected. The appalling situation has left some women to give birth in the compound as the medical workers watch helplessly.

When The New Vision visited the post-natal section on January 13, sixty mothers and their new-born babies were crowded in a room that holds 29 beds.

The majority of the mothers nestled on the already crowded floor.
For space reasons, most caretakers hanged around the corridors and in the compound.

The ward in-charge, Sr. Hope Mubiru, said 37 mothers delivered on the night of January 12.

Mubiru appealed to the Government for urgent intervention in terms of expansion of the hospital facilities.

She anticipated that the monthly average of 650 deliveries at the hsopital would increase to 700. One of the mothers in the post-natal section was glad to have a successful delivery.

â€œI have given birth to a nice baby boy, but I am sleeping on the cold floor,â€ said Eva Nabasa from Katukuru in Rwampara.

She added: â€œIt is shameful when people come to visit me and they find me on the floor because back at my home, I sleep on a descent bed.â€

â€œEven if you have a mattress it is difficult to find space on the floor to put it. There is even no fresh air.â€

Another patient, Scolah Kyogabirwe from Kabuyanda in Isingiro district who was due for caesarian section yesterday said: â€œI was admitted on Monday, but I have no bed. The place is too congested.â€

She added, â€œThere are very rude cleaners who go about their work in the wee hours of the morning. When a mother delays on the floor, they intentionally splash water onto your beddings. We also have to wait long hours in the queue to see a doctor.â€

The hospital director, Dr. Placid Mihayo said: â€œThe Government is set to expand all referral hospitals with a loan from the African Development Bank. I think the advert was in The New Vision on January 1.â€

The hospital serves the western region and parts of neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Tanzania and DR Congo.

Last year, personnel in the obstetrics and gynaecology department said they struggled with patients and were exposed to health risks because they lacked adequate protective gear like gloves, aprons and gumboots.
They also said the patients needed theatre gowns, delivery sets, trolleys and wheelchairs.

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By NewVision Reporter

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