In the Northern Cape, a capacity building project, funded by the SIOC Community Development Trust (SIOC-CDT), that focuses on expanding the facilities for maternity care has been taking place since October 2019.
The Northam Clinic Maternity Ward upgrade, funded by SIOC-CDT, will benefit residents of the Northam township and surrounding areas – providing support to a population of approximately 18,000 people.
The clinic is situated on the border of the North West province in the Thabazimbi municipality. Thabazimbi Hospital is a level one district hospital with ten feeder clinics, of which the Northam clinic is the only one that operates 24 hours a day.
As a result of the increasing immigration of residents into this mining and farming corridor, the population has been rising consistently. This has had ripple effects on service delivery in the area, including maternity services, due to capacity challenges.
The current clinic size cannot meet the demand of up to 80 births per month, causing unavoidable referrals to the Thabazimbi Hospital. Not only is this inconvenient for expectant mothers who prefer to give birth close to their families, but it is also extremely expensive for the Department of Health.
The vital maternity ward upgrade is a partnership success with Dikuno Tsa Sechaba Community Trust who have contributed R5 million to the overall budget of R28,791,289, with the balance being invested by SIOC-CDT.
The upgrade will be sustained by the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health, who have also committed to assigning a maintenance budget and ensuring that the bigger capacity is well resourced.
The project scope by SIOC-CDT has encompassed: the procurement of medical equipment and furniture, construction of the wards, delivery rooms, labour room, post-natal and ante-natal room, mentor mother, counselling, consultation and medicine rooms and the waiting area and power backup area. The upgrade completion date
Says Vusani Mali, CEO of SIOC-CDT: “With this upgrade, we also aim to reduce the mortality rate of children under five years old within the Northam catchment area and to improve service delivery to mothers by implementing Mentor Mothers, lay counsellors and health education services. The target for completion is April 2021 and we are looking forward to soon providing new mothers with a good facility where there are no chances of being turned away or referred to a hospital that is far from home.”
