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    HomeNewsNew UBH Family Health Centre increases C-section births

    New UBH Family Health Centre increases C-section births

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    Bulawayo (New Ziana)- The number of women delivering babies through the Caesarian section at the United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) has risen from 100 to 300 per month since the Family Health Centre opened in January last year, an official has said.

    The government built the 12-bed maternity theatre with the aid of partners under the Health Resilience Fund (HRF), a pooled fund under the Ministry of Health and Child Care which receives financial contributions from the European Union, the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and the Vaccine Alliance.

    Technical support came from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization (WHO).

    The UNFPA put in US$250 000 towards building and equipping the family health clinic while on its part, the Zimbabwe government invested US$15 000.

    Speaking to journalists who toured the family clinic’s theatres, UBH clinical director Dr Trust Mushawarima said surgical deliveries have risen three-fold.

    “At any given time, we have around 300 patients in the maternal health hospital that are admitted. In a month, we do about 300 caesarean sections. Previously, we used to do about 100 patients per month, but because of the Health Resilience Fund and its implementing partners that has given us infrastructure and anaesthetic equipment, we are now able to do more numbers. It has equipped our doctors to be able to do a lot more numbers, which has actually contributed to the reduction of maternal mortality in our institution,” he said.

    Before the construction of the C-section unit, UBH had only one theatre to operate pregnant women.

    “We are now at 600 patients and about half of that are cesarean sections. So, we used to have only one theatre in the maternal hospital. Now, we have two theatres and this means that we can actually attend to emergency caesarean sections.

    “They can be done on time, and this actually contributes to the survival of mothers that are needing emergency caesarean sections. It also contributes to the survival of babies, because it means that caesarean sections are done on time,” he said.

    Dr Mushawarima said the HRF support changed the way UBH operates.

    “I would like to thank the partners and the Ministry of Health for such a facility. We also received a vehicle through the same program, which is also contributing to the delivery of surgical sundries to the facility.

    “We have benefited a lot from the Health Resilience Fund. It has transformed how we do business in this institution,” he said.

    Head of gynaecology and obstetrics at UBH, Dr Mpumelelo Sibanda said the waiting period for expecting mothers was now reduced.

    “In terms of the obstetric aspect, we are striving towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, where ideally as a nation we should have maternal deaths of less than 140 per 100 000 women. As a unit, last year we celebrated in terms of reduction of maternal mortality, where we saw a drastic drop from around 450 maternal mortalities per 100 000 to around 280 maternal deaths per 100 000. That in itself is something that we are obviously celebrating, working towards a drastic reduction in these mortalities,” he said.

    Sister in charge of the centre, Venencia Mubobo said: “When we are busy we can actually do up to something like 18 to 20 cesarean sections per day.”

    New Ziana

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