Dear Editor,
Permit me as a health professional and one who hitherto has remained deeply perturbed at the increasing maternal morbidity rate, to be among the many to utter laudatory remarks on the acquisition of new facilities and cutting edge technology in the Obstetrical Department of the Georgetown Public Hospital. Some of the changes, basic though they may appear, when compared to other countries were really a long time coming, but nevertheless they are here and are most certainly welcome.
Thankfully, innovative thinkers in public health such as Dr. Pak looking at recurrent problems in new ways, determinedly set about rectifying them. Also in October 2016, the Inter-American Development Bank approved an $8 million US loan for a programme that would assist in reducing maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths in Guyana.
With some positive changes already in train, funds available, and awareness of identified challenges, pregnancy and its sequelae can now be faced with a heightened sense of civic optimism. Dr. Pak has alluded to the fact that in the new facility, all movement during labour would now take place in the same building, as opposed to previously, where different areas were in different buildings, and mothers in labour had to navigate these labyrinths .
In a somewhat indirect manner the layout of obstetric delivery rooms in England strongly supports this new concept. A prospective mother once admitted to the Labour Unit, remains in the same room and bed into which she has been admitted, only leaving when she has delivered, recovered and is being transferred to the post-partum unit. Each room is fully equipped, and the bed designed to even accommodate instrumental deliveries such as Forceps or Ventouse extraction. Caesarean sections are the exception and take place in the operating room which is in the same building as the delivery rooms. Hopefully, with the passage of time such an arrangement will be part of the obstetrical layout at the GPH.
So it is with a sense of profound gratitude and elation that I welcome the changes that have taken place, and will continue to take place in the Obstetrics Department, all in an effort to reduce and possibly eradicate maternal mortality, a curse that has hung around the neck of the Department of Health like the albatross in Samuel Coleridge’s classic ballad, Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
At the selfsame time it should be noted that a noteworthy change such as has been wrought requires the co-operation of other governmental agencies to ensure its smooth running and maintained success. It is my fervent wish that these agencies are fully aware and are aptly prepared to support these changes. In addition we must modify our approach to recognise the health of the woman prior to conception is just as important, if not more important, than health during pregnancy.
Yours faithfully,
Yvonne Sam
