Mulanje Mission Hospital has been renovating and refurbishing wards to provide better quality services for patients over the last decade. In 2016 we plan to renovate the antenatal ward, to improve the care of women with complications of pregnancy and women in early labour. The antenatal/postnatal clinic will also be redesigned to provide improved diagnostic facilities.

At the moment this so-called antenatal ‘waiting area’ is the most dilapidated patient area in the hospital. The clinic provides only a small examination room with no waiting area or toilet facilities for patients, and no room for antenatal scanning.

Facilities at the Mulanje District (Government) Hospital are already overstretched, with patients sometimes referred to MMH for operations or care of complex cases. Improved facilities at MMH will encourage women to attend for antenatal care and to attend hospital in early labour, leading to improved maternity outcomes. Malawi has a very high maternal mortality rate, one of the highest in the world, and interventions to improve antenatal care and the care of women in labour are a high priority in the Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan.

Objectives

1. A new purpose-designed clinic area for modern antenatal care, including scanning facilities, will be available for pregnant women
2. The current ‘waiting area’ for antenatal patients will be replaced by a ward providing evidence based care for pregnancy complications and women in early labour
3. Nurses and midwives will be trained in provision of evidence-based care in the antenatal period and early labour

First draft of redesign – increasing available beds to 19, providing toilets and showers in the ward, and a dedicated nurses station with examination room. The clinic area provides an examination room for doctors and midwives, a scanning room for ultrasound examinations, together with a new waiting area and toilet. MMH is currently working with an architect and builder to further improve the design. The work will necessitate moving of a sewer and manholes to create space on site for expansion