KARACHI, May 4: A 50-bed government-run maternity home in Karachi, built in the late 80s, remains grossly underutilized even today. In emergencies the people of the area rush to either the Qatar Hospital or the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

A visit to the maternity home in question— situated in sector 11.5 of Orangi Town— revealed that the facility remains open from 9 in the morning to 12 noon only. This is despite the availability of an operation theatre as well as a ward to admit at least 50 patients.

The people of the area have written to the authorities several times. Ali Imam, a middle-aged jobless man, told Dawn that since 1999 they had sent dozens of applications.

However, each time an application was sent, after an initial flurry of activities, things came to a standstill.

“As a result we are still to make any headway,” he said.

This reporter, who recently undertook the visit, was told by a policeman, on condition of anonymity, that a pregnant woman was recently brought to the maternity home in extreme agony. “ “But since the doctor had gone home, the watchman sent her away. She was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in a rickshaw. You can very well imagine how that might have affected the pregnant woman and her unborn child.”

The policeman said the incident led him and some other residents to vow that they would work tirelessly until the officials ordered 24-hour functioning of the maternity home.

“From the very beginning, this was supposed to be a 24-hour facility. But, due to one reason or the other, only the OPD part of it works and the rest is not being used.”

The residents of the area said all the posts in the said maternity home were sanctioned. They claimed that the staff posted there didn’t want the facility to run round the clock.

“They simply don’t want to work hard. So why would they request the authorities to make their centre a 24-hour one?” asked Ali Imam.

Some people of the area said the utility corporations had severed the gas and electricity connections to the maternity home and also its staff colony. “This can without any doubt be attributed to non-payment of the bills,” said one of them.

When asked, a pharmacist posted at the maternity home told Dawn that it was not functioning round the clock because water, gas and electricity were not made available. “How can this hospital work 24 hours a day when we don’t even get water round the clock?” queried Anis-ur-Rehman.

Answering a question, Anis said the Town Health Officer was sick and therefore absent. Only one nurse was on duty.

He said a lady doctor had been posted to the hospital, who worked diligently. There were three ambulances, of which one was out of order.

Anis claimed that the budget meant for medicines was being used properly. “Look, we have all the necessary drugs. Drop in any other day if you want to and you will see this for yourself,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Orangi’s is not the only maternity home which remains underutilized. According to a comprehensive study involving a survey of 33 maternity homes, MCHs and RHCs — conducted with the assistance of UNICEF — no state-owned maternity care unit is capable of providing emergency obstetrical care.

Only 14 per cent of the units can provide basic emergency care. The rest of the facilities, that is 86 per cent, simply cannot provide comprehensive emergency obstetrical care, says the study.

It also says 20 units claim to be operating on a 24-hour basis. “However, in the absence of medical teams at night, it is unlikely that these facilities are able to offer any tangible services during the night.”

Another study, published in a reputable scientific journal, says more than 60 per cent of the deliveries take place in the night. This suggests that most of our maternity units remain closed when they are needed most.