Cape Town - A new approach towards maternal healthcare has been launched at the maternity and obstetrics unit at the Mitchells Plain Community Healthcare Centre.
The “patient-centred approach” was launched in response to ongoing feedback from pregnant mothers that they had been mistreated by healthcare workers at government facilities.
Also, says Health MEC Theuns Botha, good treatment of pregnant women at public health-care facilities is just one of several solutions to make sure that “women carrying new life” are put on a pedestal instead of being mistreated.
Of critical concern, he said, was that 70 percent of mothers in the Mitchells Plain community were single moms and that it was time men came on board.
“Men have got something to do with pregnancy and they should take responsibility from the beginning,” he said.
“As a human race, we should respect new life. Men have a major role to play in being partners through the whole experience of parenthood from the beginning onwards, and I am challenging the men in our province to cherish and support new life and the person carrying that new life.”
Another challenge, he said, was that mothers themselves should understand the importance of keeping their babies as healthy as possible.
“You need to protect that new life, and to do that you have to look after yourself and your unborn children during and after pregnancy. You need to do what is required to be healthy and safe. We hear so many unhappy stories of women not taking responsibility, but your child’s life and health is in your hands,” Botha said.
Professor Sue Fawcus, who works at the Mowbray Maternity Hospital but visits the unit in Mitchells Plain as part of an outreach programme, said: “We know what the goal is, but we are not there yet. We are aiming for a safe outcome and positive experience where mothers and babies are very well cared for and protected.”
The patient-centred initiative at the facility has taken the form of different stages. In 2012, the unit was refurbished to help create a more patient-friendly atmosphere.
Then, said Dr Keith Cloete, chief director of Cape Metro District Health Services: “We held a workshop in August 2012, in response to negative feedback about pregnant women’s experience of the maternity and obstetrics unit here. From there, we had to go back to the idea of seeing the humanity in other people. We are only as good as our interactions with other human beings, and our patients deserve the best of care.”
There have also been ongoing training programmes, the development of a monitoring tool in the form of a simple questionnaire that mothers fill in and which is then assessed by the unit manager, and the development of multilingual pamphlets which provide information to mothers, caregivers and health workers at the facility.
On Wednesday, at the launch, the “patient-centred maternity care code” was launched. The code, which is laid out in a user-friendly pamphlet, highlights the basic rights of women in maternity health care, as well as how they should be treated by staff.
Said programme director Patti Olckers about the code: “Women and children are very important in terms of the Millennium Development Goals and we have 500 days now to meet those targets. The patients are at the centre of that.”
Cade Warden, 26, whose son Eden was born at the facility on July 29, said: “You hear a lot of negative things about the care we get, but as a first-time mom, I can say that I learnt a lot and I could go to any of the sisters and they would take the time to answer my questions. They especially taught me a lot about breast-feeding. After having had to have a Caesarian section, (it) has been most beneficial for me and baby.”
Another mother, Shannon Johannes, 19, said: “Everyone has been very friendly to me and given me support, especially with my baby Skylar – born four days ago – having jaundice and having to go under the lights in the incubator.”
Cape Times