Maternity ‘waiting home’ for hinterland women opens in G/T

Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence (left) and Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock (right) during the cutting of the ribbon to officially commission the Maternity Waiting Home at the Indigenous Residence, Princes Street, Georgetown. (DPI photo)

Expectant mothers brought to the city from hinterland locations for medical treatment will now be accommodated at an improved maternity waiting home which was commissioned on Wednesday at the Indigenous Residence in Georgetown.

Maternity waiting homes are, in essence, residential facilities located near qualified medical institutions where pregnant woman who are considered to be “high risk” are brought to await the delivery process.

It was noted that the recently rehabilitated waiting home at the Indigenous residence located at Princes Street, Charlestown is a component of a larger project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of efforts to reduce maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths in Guyana.