Maternity wing stretched

By GLORIA BAUAI
THE unparalleled relationship between service delivery and population growth has proven worrisome for the “stretched” maternity wing at Morobe’s Angau Provincial Hospital.
Specialist obstetrician and gynecologist Dr Leo Winuan’s concern is that the facility was recently redeveloped to be a specialist hospital, which means it is only supposed to cater for complicated cases.
Winuan said because of a lack of health facilities and capacity to handle the growing number of deliveries (birthing), Angau was forced to take on the load which was in turn not allowing it to function optimally and putting pressure on its resources and manpower.
“We facilitate almost 10,000 deliveries annually, that equates to around 800 deliveries monthly, which is roughly 35 to 40 mothers a day,” he said.
“The bulk of these are normal deliveries that should be taken care of at a local healthcare facility.
“Angau is a specialty hospital, so the few that have complications should be under our radar.
“Instead, it is the other way around; we see the bulk of normal deliveries coming in here and that’s where our energies are exhausted.
“We are so tired that when it comes to the complicated ones, we don’t have the energy to handle them appropriately.”
Winuan said they normally attend to three to five complicated cases a week, sometimes more; most complicated cases come in from rural areas like Menyamya, Bulolo, Wau-Waria and Tewai-Siassi districts.
The new birthing wing, opened in 2021, consists of 10 private birthing suites, eight observation beds and has specialised equipment meant to offer improved services for expectant mothers.
“But imagine this – 10 delivery rooms means only 10 women are lucky to secure a delivery room while the 25 will have to look for a place to deliver – so either they deliver in the toilet or in the corridor,” Winuan said.
“We also have a shortage of midwives and doctors; the number of patients have gone up and we are overworked and lacking basic resources.”
Winuan said based on national statistics from the 2011 census, by end of this year, Morobe should have a population of about 1.5 million; that is an estimated 10 per cent of the country’s total population.
“Morobe is one of the largest provinces, yet the services do not match its size,” he said.
“That is why, when you have community facilities donated, such as the West Taraka and Tent City health centres, please take care of them or we all go back to square one.”