Doc: Angau needs more midwives

By JIMMY KALEBE
ANGAU Memorial Hospital in Lae, delivers about 9,000 live babies annually with an average of 700 deliveries a month, which is about 35 per day, an official says.
Chief obstetrician Dr Leo Winuan said the hospital’s new birthing ward needed more manpower to cater for the number of deliveries.
The new birthing ward has 18 self-contained rooms with a bed and each can house a single mother at any one time during labour unlike, the old one which only had five beds.
“Having a very good and new structure does not mean we will provide the best service in terms of health care,” Dr Winuan said.
“There is a need for all components to be put together and that means more manpower or human resource.”
He made the remarks during a tour of Angau hospital by Health Minister Jelta Wong, Lands and Physical Planning Minister John Rosso, Morobe Governor Ginson Saonu and Australian High Commissioner Jon Philp.
Dr Winuan said the new birthing ward would need more midwives to cater for the increasing number of deliveries.
At the moment, only 14 midwives were working at the facility.
“We have about two midwives working on a shift to look after 35 deliveries per day and that is not how it should be,” he said.
Morobe has a growth rate of 2.4 per cent compared to the national growth rate of 2.7 per cent.
Dr Winuan said for the best services to be given at the ward, there needed to be a holistic approach taken to ensure everything (manpower, consumables and others) went as planned.
He thanked the Australian government for its assistance in building healthcare services.