MULAGO – Several childless women on Monday flocked Mulago to seek treatment at the new Neo-Natal and Maternity Hospital, which opened to the public yesterday.
The 450-bed capacity hospital, which will enable women with complex reproductive health problems to be treated and also reduce referrals abroad for specialised reproductive and Neonatal treatment, was officially handed over to the government last Friday.
And two of the women seeking treatment at the facility on Monday were 37-year-old Clare Kyampiire and Christine Nakyambadde, 36.
Kyampiire said in 2016, she went to the Fertility hospital in Bukoto where she spent Shs17million on the artificial insertion of her husband’s semen so that she could conceive.
“I paid Shs.17 million to have my husband’s sperms inserted using IVF but I do not know what happened. They told me I have PCOS [Polycystic Ovary Syndrome]. I had to pay another Shs.13.5million to get a test tube baby but I found it too much,” she said.
Nakyambadde, on the other hand, said she has visited several hospitals trying to become pregnant in vain. “They told me my tubes are coiled. I was given medicine to flush them but I have failed to conceive. I hope this hospital will help me this time to conceive,” she said.
She added: “The community provokes all the time, calling me barren. Even at the workplace, relatives and in laws and this stresses all the time,” she said.
Health ministry senior spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona said the first day of work at the super-specialised facility was successful.
Twenty patients received specialised treatment out of which 10 sought assisted-reproductive technology or IVF, he added.
He said 21 tests were conducted and two patients were referred back to Kawempe Referral Hospital to access some services.
Construction works for the 9-storey hospital was funded using a $25m loan from the Islamic Development Bank. The specialised equipment installed in the hospital cost at least $8m according to Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng. 180 health workers have also been trained in specialised maternal and neonatal services.
The hospital is designed to accommodate 450 patients with one attendant each. The hospital is all piped to enable medical gases, nitrous oxide and oxygen to be pumped directly to patients on their beds without using an oxygen cylinder. There is also a laboratory where urinal tests and cancer screenings can be conducted.
