MUKONO. Expectant mothers at Mukono General Hospital have implored the government to consider constructing a modern and spacious maternity ward at the facility to reduce the congestion and better the poor state of mothers that come to attain services at the facility.
The cry out was directed to the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja during her impromptu tour of the facility on Thursday following media reports that the state of maternity ward at the facility is terribly lacking as majority of them sleep on the floor immediately after giving birth.
Ms Nabbanja is acting on orders of President Museveni following a concern from one of the journalists David Mwesigwa of Galaxy Radio who re-echoed on Wednesday during his nomination at the Electoral Commission offices at Lweza, the dire need to help mothers currently sleeping on the floor.
Museveni ordered Ms Nabajja to go and examine the situation and on her visit mothers expressed deep concerns about the poor state of the facility and called for re-development.
Ms Suzan Naluyombya from Namayiba in Nakisunga Sub County notes that doctors have tried to do their work, but the challenge remains the lack of enough infrastructure which has greatly affected many of the mothers.
“Much as the doctors are trying to do their work, but the maternity ward is too small considering the large numbers of mothers who visit the facility, so we ask government to put up more structures to reduce on the congestion,” Naluyombya explained.
Ms Doreen Nakatte from Nabuuti Cell, Mukono Central Division called upon the government to provide the facility with more delivery beds to much up the numbers that come to the facility on a daily basis.
“It is true and possible for a mother to deliver from the floor but then you can easily sympathize with the doctors, sometimes they’re overwhelmed by numbers yet they actually have like four or five beds” Nakatte emphasized
Among other key challenges, mothers also expressed ingratitude with some nurses and midwives who extort money from them yet the government is meant to provide everything.
Ms Sharifah Namatovu explains that every service at the facility comes at a cost and often time’s people who cannot afford the bills are not worked upon which put lives in danger.
“We buy almost everything here and some nurses and mid-wives coerce us to pay money and failure to pay or giving them a token you definitely face the backlash from the medics. Sometimes mothers are painfully thrown out of the ward with fresh wound, painful catheters and really the entire environment makes someone so sick and we wonder if the government abandoned us” She explained while shading tears.
The Medical Superintendent for Mukono General Hospital Dr. Geoffrey Kasirye said several reports have been written to relevant authorities highlighting a number of challenges like few delivery beds, congested wards and the need for more infrastructures like storied buildings to occupy more specialists and also decongest the already overwhelmed wards.
“The government has done its best but considering the high numbers resulting from our strategic location, we need some two storied buildings and plans are already available only waiting for funding. Our bosses already know about it and efforts to make this facility a better place for all of us are underway” Dr. Kasirye explained.
He further explained to the Prime Minister the urgent need for staff quarters since majority commute from home daily.
In response, Nabbanja admitted to the fact that the hospital is congested and blamed the delayed response on area MPs who do not bother reporting the matter to government because they’re from opposition parties.
“The problem is that this hospital was elevated through stages, from Health Centre III to IV and now General Hospital, but apart from the name changing, the structures remained those of HCIII and IV, but the biggest challenge is your opposition MPs who do not do their supervisory role, they don’t meet the President, they don’t come to our offices and yet real and actual planning is done inside our offices not the argumentative parliamentary floor,” Nabbanja explained.
She pledged highlighting the need for a storied building to decongest the wards and the hospital premises with the help of the president who sent her to observe the state of the facility.
“For the meantime I am going to work handy with the permanent, Dr. Diana Atwine, Dr. Jane Ruth Acheng and other colleagues to get for you a very big tent for mothers who sleep outside on the floor and on Monday I will give the President full report to see how we can lobby funding even if it means taking a loan for a storied building and the space issue will be sorted,” Nabbanja explained.