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MATERNITY WARD TO RESUME OPERATIONS IN A WEEK - MINISTER

By Sabelo Majola | 2018-03-14

EXPECTANT women residing in Mbabane and outskirts will have to bear with the inconvenience for at least a week before seeking help at the Mbabane Government Hospital Maternity Ward, where renovations at the labour ward are underway.

Heavy rains on Sunday night left the ward flooded.

Having taken over two years from 2014 while undergoing renovations, the ward had to be closed and patients, precisely pregnant women, were transferred to other hospitals like Raleigh Fitkin Memorial and Good Shepherd, after the floods on Sunday. Minister of Health Sibongile Ndlela-Simelane said the damage was not enormous and refurbishment should be over within the next seven days.

“The damage was the same as typical flooding that normally happens at homesteads, it was not big.

“Due to the down-slope position of the ward, water gained entry through the door and overflowed to other segments within the ward and there was a portion within the ward where water passes through an exhaust to a septic tank but there is damage in the tank that it no longer takes in the water, hence the floods,” she said.

The minister, however, couldn’t guarantee that the ward will be open for operation after the renovations as they have to do tests to determine whether the environment is conducive for its operations in terms of health.

“We all know that flooded areas can be a breeding ground for germs and diseases hence we have to do all necessary precautions to make sure those children and their mothers are free from germs in the ward,” she said.

Minister Ndlela-Simelane didn’t reveal how much the damage will dig into government’s pockets but she said it won’t be an arm and a leg due to the minor extent of the damage.

The closure of the maternity in September 2014 was to make way for renovations whose purpose was to create a bigger and more upgraded facility.

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