GOVERNMENT hospitals are usually despised and shunned by some members of society.
This is sometimes due to misinformation and disinformation, some on social media and word of mouth.
Some of the misinformation and disinformation relates to the infrastructure in government hospitals while some of it relates to the attitude of health officials.
However, government has been invested in medical infrastructure and in its health workers.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has been conducting training programmes and sensitisation workshops for its staff.
The ministry has also developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that give guidance on how to treat clients when they present themselves to health facilities.
The ministry is also encouraging people to even put in complaints, provided feedback mechanisms and community-based community health centres and groups that also help in the feedback, according to Anna Machiya, the National Coordinator STI Prevention and Condom Distribution in the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Rarely do hospital officials get positive feedback. Not that there is no such positive feedback. But sometimes those who use hospital facilities disappear and never come back.
However, this week, one happy “customer” Phideline Rusere, 38, broke with tradition.
After surviving her ordeal during pregnancy, Rusere went back to Parirenyatwa Hospital with a different story.
Rusere, was diagnosed with Eclampsia, seizures that occur during a woman’s pregnancy or shortly after giving birth.
Eclampsia can follow a condition of high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine during pregnancy (preeclampsia).
Symptoms that signal an increasing risk of eclampsia include upper-right abdominal pain, severe headache and vision and mental status changes.
Medication can treat and prevent seizures and reduce high blood pressure. The baby may need to be delivered early.
In the case of Rusere, she underwent an operation on January at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, the prime referral facility in Zimbabwe.
She was “very sick” when she presented herself at the hospital and 33 weeks pregnant.
“The doctors opted to operate on me because my situation was deteriorating,” said Rusere.
“I’m grateful to the doctors and their team because my operation was successful. My son, Tinodiwa Miracle Sam Rusere was born weighing 1.5kg,” she said.
Tinodiwa stayed in the nursery for nine days without his mother because she was not well and could not attend to him.
“During that period, I didn’t know where my son was, who was feeding him and what he was wearing. Sister Muzuva, showing true care and love sent nurses to find me because I had to feed the Tinodiwa. In those few days Tino had lost weight from about 1,5kg to 1,2kgs. It was bad,” said Rusere.
“I would like thank all the nurses, vana Mbuya, who helped me get through this difficult period. They fed my son and did everything to ensure that he was in good health,” she added.
However, after a few days, Rusere ran away to return to the ward where mothers with babies in the nursery are housed.
Sister Muzuva and her team of nurses did not give up on her.
They looked for her yet again offering counselling about the advantages of moving to the Kangaroo section
– she was skeptical because of her operation.
The Immediate Kangaroo Mother Care (IKMC) unit provides accommodation for both mother and baby.
Under this system, the newborn preterm baby will be placed on the mother’s chest soon after delivery instead of an incubator.
Experts say this system ensures facilitation of essential treatments such as intravenous fluids, ventilation and antibiotics.
“I grudgingly agreed to move to the Kangaroo section but was amazed by the attitude yana Mbuya I met there. They showed me love and from that time my son’s health began to improve and he gained weight reaching about 1,6kg. The nurses were angels sent from God and for this, I’m grateful,” said Rusere.
“I want to thank God for raising them to attend to my son during the time I was not very much in control of my faculties. I do not even know where the milk they fed to my son including the wraps were coming from.
Sister Muzuva said the nursery admits preterm, underweight and overweight babies, some as low as under 500g while some overweight up to about 5kg.
She added that the preterm babies are the most delicate of them all and the nurses have a “handle with care” principle when dealing with them.
“Preterm babies usually face breathing challenges because their lungs will not have fully developed.
They also do not feed well and this affects their growth,” said Sister Muzuva.
“These babies require attention all the time with the nurses having to make sure the babies are fed, and have not tempered with breathing support tools on them. We also need the mothers to breastfeed their babies as ‘Brest milk is the best milk for the baby’.
“This is why we looked for Rusere. We had nurses scouring the wards because we knew that she was going through a difficult medical moment but had to feed Tino. We’re not happy if a baby’s development deteriorates. We’ve a mantra that ‘we do our best and God does the rest”,” Sister Muzuva said.
She said Rusere and her son benefitted from government’s commitment to make maternal healthcare freely available and accessible to all.
“After we were discharged, I made a vow to myself that I would return and support the team and the institution with the little that I can raise because my son and I are testimonies to their good work,” Rusere said.
She handed over a donation which included wraps and mattress covers for “Tino’s friends in the nursery”.
“This is my humble appreciation of their labour of love and for all the staff at this great institution. I would also like to thank Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals for the facilities that my son and I used during our ordeal. I’m a witness to the good work of saving people’s lives that God is doing through the staff at Parirenyatwa,” said Rusere.
While acknowledging the gifts, Sister Muzuva said she was touched by Rusere’s gesture and appealed to many other users of health facilities to emulate her.
“She has shown us unparalleled love and I appeal to all Zimbabweans to also assist medical institutions around the country. We’re also glad to note that baby Tino has continued with his development,” said Siter Muzuva.
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