The Zambezi Health Directorate has urged expectant mothers in rural areas to make use of the maternity waiting shelter at the Katima Mulilo State Hospital.
The shelter, funded by the Social Security Commission of Namibia, was inaugurated last year to accommodate expectant mothers from rural areas while waiting to deliver.
Kachana Sikanda, a senior registered nurse and member of the management team responsible for nursing services at the hospital, said about 21 expectant mothers have so far made use of the facility since its inauguration.
Staff members at the hospital cleaned up the shelter on Friday to prepare it to house more patients.
Sikanda said the shelter will reduce health complications that could occur during childbirth at home.
"It was due to reduce the home deliveries in the villages, because most mothers deliver at home and then they get complications; sometimes you will see that the baby dies, so when the maternity waiting shelter is functional, all those women will come to the maternity waiting shelter and wait nearby the hospital, where, when the labour starts, they just proceed to the hospital, and also to reduce the maternal and neonatal death. You know, when the mother delivers at home, there can be bleeding that can cause the mother to die, or maybe there won't be care given to the baby who's born."
Sharon Nyambe, a 22-year-old expectant mother from Sabelo in the Linyanti Constituency, says she is relieved to be accommodated at the shelter, as the clinic in her area was too small.
"There's water available, showers you can make use of as much as you need, and we have places to sleep with beds and everything. As for blankets, if you don't have any, they provide some for you, even mosquito nets."
Another 22-year-old, Mercy Lipuo, who is also nearing her delivery date, is from Ngoma and said, "I feel alright being here, because one never knows; I could go through some kind of problem, but at least I would be closer to the hospital; the village is quite far, and that is why I came here."
The expectant mothers, who are provided with almost everything except food, also receive medical check-ups twice a week.
They appealed to the local business community to assist in meeting the hospital's needs halfway, especially pregnant women who cannot afford groceries.
Training in sewing is also set to begin soon as part of the initiatives to provide women with skills they can use to earn an income once they return home.