Times Of Swaziland: NO ULTRASOUND SCAN SERVICES AT GOVT HOSPITAL

NO ULTRASOUND SCAN SERVICES AT GOVT HOSPITAL
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BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA on 11/05/2021 08:42:00


MBABANE – Expectant mothers wishing to know the gender or position of their
unborn babies have to travel out of the Mbabane City or opt for expensive
ultrasound scan services.
This is because the ultrasound scan services at the Mbabane Government Hospital
have not been available for over a month, apparently due to the coming to an end
of a work contract of the technician who had been placed there. An ultrasound
scan is a medical test that uses high-frequency sound waves to capture live
images from the inside of the body. It is also known as sonography. The
technology is similar to that used by sonar and radar, which helps detect planes
and ships. An ultrasound is used to create images of soft tissue structures,
such as the gall bladder, liver, kidneys, pancreas, bladder and other organs and
parts.
Blockages
Ultrasound can also measure the flow of blood in the arteries to detect
blockages. The ultrasound scan at the Mbabane Government Hospital was mostly
used by expectant mothers to find out the gender of their unborn babies or the
position of the baby in the uterus so they could determine the type of birth to
opt for. The said public healthcare facility in Mbabane charges E20 for an
ultrasound scan while the fees at private clinics start from E350 up to E750,
depending on the trimester in pregnancy. According to close sources, the
ultrasound department at the Mbabane Government Hospital has been idle for over
a month because the technician’s contract had elapsed and had not been
renewed.
“It has been over a month since the ultrasound technician’s contract was not
renewed. Since then, patients and expectant mothers have been turned back and
they have to go to other public health facilities or go to private clinics if
they can afford,” said the source. According to a gynaecologist, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, it was fundamental for every healthcare facility,
especially the big ones like the Mbabane Government Hospital, to have a
functional ultrasound scan department. “The livelihood of women depends on
ultrasound scans, especially when they are pregnant. What we are teaching now is
for women to be scanned by the time they are two months pregnant so they could
know if they have a normal or ectopic pregnancy. “Ectopic pregnancy is when
the unborn baby is in the tubes instead of the uterus,” said the
gynaecologist.