ADJUMANI, UGANDA: The Adjumani hospital maternity ward is overwhelmed with the number of mothers who have been admitted to give birth in recent months and some mothers now sleep on the floor as all the beds are occupied.
Pauline Idia the assistant district health officer in charge of maternal health, said Adjumani hospital maternity ward only has a bed capacity of 40 beds.
She said they have been appealing to partners to come to their aid and so far Care International has erected a tent and Jesuit refugee services has shown interest to put an extra tent to help social distance.
Pauline Idia further stated that, due to the overwhelming number of expectant mothers in the hospital, the surrounding health facilities of Adjumani catholic mission and Kochoa have also been filled to full capacity.
Irene Anzoa, a helper to one of the mothers who successfully delivered through a caesarian said she did not get a bed but opted to be put on the floor.
Jane Dipio, a caretaker to another mother who managed to secure a bed said on the first day, she slept on the floor, but after the discharging of someone, she was assigned a bed.
According to the medical superintendent, Dr. Michael Ambaku, the hospital now delivers from 80 to 120 mothers in a day which has not been the case in the past. At this rate, the hospital will be set to
“In the last two months expectant mothers had to source medical gloves, cotton wool, gauze, and surgical blades from private facilities while those who went through cesarean section were compelled to buy switchers which cost 10,000 Shillings per piece,” Dr.Ambaku lamented.
Dr. Ambaku wondered over the sudden increase in the number of expectant mothers who visit the hospital to deliver in the months following the COVID-19 outbreak and two lock-downs.
He notes though, that Adjumani Hospital has also been receiving expectant mothers from the neighboring districts of Obongi, Yumbe, Amuru and the refugees settlements.
The doctor said that due to lack of space, the management has been compelled to erect a tent for expectant mothers whose time to deliver has not yet reached.
“We have developed a data collection tool and we are scrutinizing why the number of expectant mothers has increased” Ambaku stated.
Although the hospital is currently experiencing a high volume of expectant mothers coming to deliver, according to the district health officer -DHO Adjumani Dr. Dominic Drametu, the annual health sector performance report indicates that only 51.6% of the expectant mothers delivered from health units.
He said many of the mothers opting to deliver at private units. The DHO further revealed that last year the same month of September recorded the highest number of deliveries with more than 1,046 deliveries while October recorded 1,060 deliveries representing 58.1% and 58.8% respectively.
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