“Efforts are made on a daily basis at the Kintambo maternity hospital to provide good conditions for women who give birth as well as for their infants”, assured the doctor-director of this maternity hospital, Brigitte Topela. She thus denied the testimonies of residents reporting poor hospital conditions.
On June 16, Radio Okapi had revealed in its report, a catastrophic situation at the maternity of Kintambo, according to the testimonies of the residents. Patients and members of the nursing staff denounced in particular the poor conditions of hospitalization.
Due to a lack of electricity, some women give birth by cesarean section using mobile phone torches. These conditions sometimes lead to death of mothers and newborns.
But, Dr. Brigitte Tupela believes that the maternity of Kintambo meets the standards:
“There are power cuts that can happen or load shedding. But being a state structure, we are always favored to have power. We cannot put the life of the woman and the child in danger. Deontologically, it is not allowed to perform an operation in the dark, we do not do it. As you are on the ground you can see, soaking up the state of our sanitary facilities. We take care of the care, we take care of the hygiene, we take care of the state of the woman because it is she who gives life, it is she who must be secure”.
She also ensures that the water flows in the maternity ward, contrary to the testimonies of the residents:
“We cannot allow the toilets to remain in a dilapidated state. Here at the maternity ward, we are fed by REGIDESO and we have a borehole. I don’t see how we who have this borehole can suffer from a lack of water”.
According to her, efforts are being made to improve patient care, particularly within the framework of the universal health coverage and free maternity program.