More than 30 expecting mothers are admitted to Mother and Child Hospital, a small maternity clinic in Ado Ekiti located in southwest Nigeria, every day. The hospital specializes in maternity services, ranging from antenatal to postnatal care; services that are often unscheduled and required at all hours of the night.
However, the power supply at the hospital is erratic. Dr Oria Adebose, a medical officer at Mother & Child Hospital explains, “In 24 hours, we may have 16 hours of light, at the most. We have power cuts from 6 in the morning up to 1 in the afternoon. It runs for about four hours, till 5 pm, switches off and comes back at midnight. On some days, it does not even last up to 16 hours.”
Nigeria also has the highest maternal mortality rate in the region, second in the world, only to India, so when facilities like Mother and Child Hospital lose power, their clinicians have to figure out how to accommodate unexpected, long gaps in service without jeopardizing patient care.
Read more at:https://guardian.ng/features/health/solar-lamps-improve-maternal-care-de...