In January 2018 the new maternity ward of the Musichimi Health Centre opened in the wing formerly used for visitors . This wing was initially financed by the Germany based association ‘Freundeskreis Uganda’. Its refurbishment as maternity ward was financed by the Brussels-based NGO ‘Femmes d’Europe’. The ward consists of a delivery room, a bedroom for expecting mothers, a room for mothers and newborns, and one room for the midwives and the administration of the ward. There is an adjoining toilet-cum-shower, a placenta pit and an incinerator for the disposal of human waste .
Beds, baby cots, sheets, blankets, and a solar pump to provide water for shower and toilet were bought with private donations received from Gerda Alloa-Thywissen, one of the main supporters of the clinic in Belgium.
The separation of mothers/babies from indoor patients, the placenta pit and the incinerator are legal requirements. With the growing number of deliveries, apart from being illegal, the situation was not tenable. The ward has taken off very well. Since the opening in January and until July 2019 already 112 babies were born there. Because of the constantly rising numbers of deliveries, a second midwife has been enrolled, who shares in the nursing, too.
The total construction cost was 3,663 Euros, funded by Femmes d’Europe (except for the toilet/shower which existed already). The refurbishment cost amounted to 3200 Euros funded by Gerda Alloa.
The ward from the outside
The delivery room
The toilet-cum-shower
We thank all donors for their generous and precious support.