Maternity Services

Labour Ward

An author, Debasish Mridha, once quoted;

 “Babies are the buds of imagination that are ready to bloom with lights of love and affection.”

JOOTRH labour ward department is headed by a nursing officer supported by consultants, registrars, medical officers interns, clinical officers interns, nurses, clerks and security guards.

The department has also partnered with the Ministry of Health, Boresha Jamii and Smiles for Mothers to reduce maternal deaths and enhance paternal and maternal morbidity.  

It deals with more than 7000 women annually, some who are ready to give birth and others who are not pregnant. Seven per cent of these involve women who required a Caesarean section to help them in baby delivery.

The department uses a democratic and dialogue style in solving issues and the general management process.

It is the only department in JOOTRH where new lives are brought to the world. Mothers come without gifts and go back with amazing gifts to care for. It is also the only department that carries out maternal and perinatal death. The staffs are always awake to attend to their patients.

The department is open from Monday to Sunday and operates 24 hours a day.

The department sometimes experiences cases of patients with thrombocytopenia (A low number of platelets in the blood). These cases are mostly solved through donations of safe available blood to the patients and Medications such as romiplostim (Nplate) and eltrombopag (Promacta) to help the bone marrow produce more platelets. 

The department has goals and objectives for essential planning and executing a project. Both create measurable steps to reach the desired outcome. The goals and objectives are as follows:

• To offer safe maternal and child care through helping expectant and suckling mothers with the education and services that aid in the maternity field.
• To work towards minimal maternal and perinatal mortality through observing the measures required for keeping both the mother and baby safe from harm.
• To mentor and ensure students acquire quality skills acceptable by the World Health Organization. This is done by offering attachment and intern positions to the students.
• To make the department a friendly and comfortable place for both the mother and the baby.

The department is also responsible for developing protocols of management for specific conditions relating to the mother and baby.

Services of the department

• Admission of expectant women. 

Expectant mothers or babies who require serious care are admitted to the department for example mothers who are about to give birth or those recovering from the birth process.

• Management of the first stage of labour

They monitor the phases of the first stage of labour (Phase 1: Early (latent) labour. Phase 2: Active labour. Phase 3: Transition) and offer assistance at different phases.

• Deliveries of babies

They help mothers to deliver babies either through the normal birth process or surgical process.

• Immediate care of mothers and babies

Activities such as administering medicines to the baby to help in the healing of the cut section of the umbilical cord.

• Mentorship of students

It is done through offering attachment opportunities where they teach students how to do tasks relating to the field or specialization of the department.

• Infection prevention and control

Measures such as preventing transmission of HIV and AIDS from the mother to the baby during birth are observed.

• Post maternal review

It is always done two weeks after the delivery to check on the health of the baby and the mother and offers guidelines and recommendations.

• Maternal and paternal deaths audits

It is done across the county to establish the total number of mothers and babies who have died in the county. They do this through fieldwork where they assess both the hospital and community and record the numbers they are given.