Journalists were on a tour of the health facility during a media orientation meeting for Bauchi Media on European Union — Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition (EU-MNCHN) project.

The project, funded by the EU and implemented by the United Nations Children’s Fund, is aimed at strengthening Primary Healthcare and Community Resilience in Bauchi State. A top source at the maternity said the health facility, which runs 24-hour services, lacks adequate manpower.

The source also lamented the state of some facilities and structures within the maternity, pointing out they were in bad condition. “We are trying to see that our work is standard, but we have some challenges which include dilapidated structures. “Some of the roofs are leaking. When you go into the maternity ward, the doors and windows are broken. “Also, if you go round, you’ll see that the toilet facility is leaking from the roof. “Our manpower is not adequate, we are just trying to manage what we have since we are conducting 24-hour services,” the source said.

Our source added, “We have only one nurse midwife in the clinic, seven Community Health Extension Workers  and five junior Community Health Extension Workers,  which are grossly inadequate for 24-hour services. “If we estimate, it means that we’ll only have a CHEW and a J-CHEW in a shift. “These staff are grossly inadequate and we need about 20 for the shift we do.”

On power supply, the source said the maternity solely relies on public power supply, disclosing that the generator that was supposed to service the centre has not been put to use in the past two years because the authorities have not been servicing it.

According to our source, “We only use PHCN, even though we have a generator; but we don’t have the means of fueling and servicing it. It is about two years since we last used the generator.” Asked what happens to the maternity in case of extended power outage, our source said, “We resort to using lanterns in the labour room.”

The source also said that the maternity has only one laboratory technician, and a handful of students who are temporary workers. “We have only one female laboratory technician. If she has a problem, we also run into problems because she’s the only trained person in that regard,” our source said; adding that some of the services offered in the the facility include ante natal, labour/deliveries, HIV counselling/testing, management of minor illnesses, family planning, TB treatment, etc.

The European Union, in collaboration with UNICEF, is upgrading 162 Primary Health Facilities in Bauchi to improve healthcare delivery in the state. Our correspondent observed that the maternity centre currently lacks toilet facilities, as the ones there are in very terrible state and unhygienic for pregnant women and children.

Also, the well, which is the only source of water supply at the facility, is open without any cover. 

Source: Punch