THE newly constructed Maternity Waiting Home at Annai, Region 9, will soon be commissioned, the Department of Public Information has reported.

The Maternity Waiting Home, which was constructed by the Government of Guyana with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will accommodate high-risk pregnant mothers from far-flung areas in the North Rupununi.

The project is expected to reduce maternal mortality within the Annai District area, since it allows pregnant women to travel to Georgetown several weeks before delivery, and await the onset of labour, before being transferred to the main referral hospital for safe delivery.
In September 2018, the Ministry of Public Health commissioned a maternity waiting home at the Indigenous Residents in Princes Street, Georgetown at a cost of almost $1M. At that commissioning ceremony, Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, said that these initiatives form part of the government’s strategy to end maternal, prenatal and neonatal deaths throughout Guyana. Guyana currently has four maternity waiting homes: one in Suddie (Region 2), another in Georgetown (Region 4), and one in Lethem and Annai respectively (Region 9). A similar facility will be constructed in Moruca (Region 1).