The Tumu Municipal Hospital’s Maternity unit has received a new delivery bed and light to support its operations.

Almost all the beds in the ward have broken down, making it extremely difficult for health workers to provide women in labour with a suitable and comfortable place to deliver.

However, the challenge has been slightly eased with the provision of a new bed by a group of individuals who describe themselves as friends of the Member of Parliament.

The Tumu Municipal Hospital continues to grapple with several challenges, including the absence of a dedicated children’s ward and a deplorable maternity ward.

The beds in the ward are not only in poor condition but are also too small to comfortably accommodate women during delivery.

Acting Nurse Manager at the facility, Cicelia Haluri Iddrisu, says the situation is putting considerable strain on the hospital’s operations.

She explained that the limited space in the maternity ward makes it difficult for the facility to accommodate more women at the same time.

"The ward generally is so old, and we don't have most of the equipment that we need to use. The space too is so small, so if you have three or four women coming in, it's difficult to get all of them into that space, and there's also no privacy in the room," she said.

But there is now some relief for women using the delivery room, as friends of the Member of Parliament for Sissala East have donated a well-furnished delivery bed to the facility.

For the donors, seeing people in the area struggle to access proper care due to the poor state of the ward prompted them to support the hospital.

"I see people in need, and we decided to come and help", Funda Gocuk said.

"The government should be giving the help, but they don't always do it. Therefore, people of the North always tend to suffer. So, this time round, we decided to go for maternity care, and hopefully this will help the women here," Sandra Kodimah added.

Receiving the donation on behalf of the Medical Superintendent, Dr Raymond Danso, Head of Pharmacy, Johnson Yandanbil, commended the donors for the gesture, describing it as a timely intervention. He, however, noted that the hospital continues to face several other challenges that require urgent attention.

"Tumu Hospital is one of the referral hospitals in this Municipality, and so we conduct over 100 deliveries in a month. So, this particular intervention has come at the right time. However, we also lack a Children's ward and other facilities, and we call for urgent intervention," he said.

The Member of Parliament, Mohammed Issah Bataglia, expressed gratitude to the three individuals for their support and assured the hospital of further interventions to help address some of its outstanding needs.

"I sincerely do appreciate their efforts. They're doing very little things that are having a great impact on the people," he noted.