Afrigather WALVIS BAY- It’s a Wednesday morning on the Kuisebmund Well being Centre and Shirleyn Awases is among the many 20 ladies in search of antenatal care providers on the facility.
The 31-year not too long ago had a miscarriage and never lengthy earlier than that she delivered a stillborn child. This time round, the mom of a ten -year is anticipating yet one more child.
And, whereas she is nervous about what may go improper, Awases can also be hopeful that with the not too long ago donated ultrasound machine to the Kuisebmund Well being Centre, the physician would be capable to higher detect any abnormalities throughout her being pregnant with this know-how.
The World Well being Organisation (WHO) with monetary assist amounting to US$ 270 000 (roughly N$ 4,579,200) from the federal government of Japan donated a sonar to the Kuisebmund Well being Centre in March this 12 months (2022).
The assist is geared toward strengthening maternal and little one well being providers in Namibia. The Kuisebmund Well being Centre is one among 16 district well being services that benefited from the WHO and authorities of Japan assist.
“We’ve realized that we wanted extra assist by way of ultrasound machines which helps with early detection of the expansion and growth of the child within the mom’s womb and if there are any issues they are often picked up early,” stated the WHO Consultant, Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses.
The COVID -19 pandemic disrupted important well being providers together with maternal and little one well being providers. “We had been attempting to reply to that disruption,” defined Sagoe-Moses. Within the meantime, Awases is comfortable that she will get the chance to have an ultrasound scan accomplished early in her being pregnant.
“We had been struggling to pay non-public docs for ultrasound scans as a result of it’s simply costly. We had been additionally actually combating that one sonar that’s based mostly on the Walvisbay State Hospital. Persons are solely served on an appointment foundation and the ready intervals are painfully lengthy,” she defined. This, she says, is the explanation she didn’t search medical consideration when she seen that her child was not shifting as a lot as earlier than.
“I misplaced my child at six months in April final 12 months,” she explains. She was pregnant once more in October of the identical 12 months. This time, she didn’t learn about it. “I used to be solely instructed that I had a miscarriage, and I used to be two months pregnant, “explains Awases. The Kuisebmund Well being Centre is inside strolling distance for Awases and plenty of different ladies like her who battle to make a residing.
Cornelia Stramish moved to Walvisbay not too long ago. She additionally agrees that not all the ladies attending antenatal care on the Kuisebmund Well being Centre have the cash to hunt the providers of a non-public physician. Consequently, an ultrasound is a luxurious that many on the Facility didn’t take pleasure in prior to now.
Typically, the ladies would have an ultrasound in the direction of the tip of their pregnancies or in case of a medical emergency, provides Dr Augusto Gawab, the Appearing Senior Medical Officer on the Walvisbay District Hospital.
“The Kuisebmund Well being Centre is the biggest clinic within the area by way of the variety of sufferers that come right here. Consequently, we now have a excessive workload,” explains Gawab. Earlier than March 2021, most ultrasounds had been carried out on the Walvisbay District hospital.
The gynaecologist assigned to the Hospital for ultrasound would see as much as 45 sufferers or extra a day for ultrasound scans. The ultrasound machine on the hospital doesn’t solely cater for anticipating moms however for all sufferers who want it.
“The docs on the hospital had been overloaded. This ultrasound machine was donated on the proper time as a result of it has actually helped us scale back the burden and inflow of sufferers to the hospital needing a sonar,” defined Gawab.
Now that the Kuisebmund Well being Centre has an ultrasound, Gawab is assured that abnormalities can be detected early on in the course of the being pregnant of a girl. “I’m assured that we are going to have lowered prenatal mortality,” he stated.
Previously, Gawab noticed a scenario of two to 3 prenatal deaths in a month. “We now have additionally had situations of ladies not feeling their infants’ motion. We even have ladies who are usually not positive when precisely they conceived. The sonar will be capable to detect all of this stuff,” stated Gawab.
Cornelius Nuunyango is the Major Well being Care Supervisor for Walvisbay district. “We now have a excessive inhabitants inside a small geographical space. The Kuisebmund Well being Centre may be very busy as a result of it’s proper locally,” he explains.
Nuuyango feels that one other ultrasound machine would additional ease the burden of the well being services within the Erongo area. “That is the primary time that we now have a sonar in that Facility. We beforehand solely had one sonar and that’s the one on the hospital,” he stated. Because of the demand, some ladies would go to a non-public physician to have an ultrasound scan of their child and they’d pay as much as N$ 1000 to have the scan.
The Erongo Well being Director, Anna Jonas recommended the WHO and the federal government of Japan for the donation. “This sonar actually got here in useful as a result of in line with our antenatal pointers a girl is meant to have an ultrasound scan inside 24 weeks of being pregnant,” commented Jonas.
