Pregnant women should not be turned away

In a statement issued last Friday, the ministry said that the hospital has only 60 midwives but presided over 7,200 deliveries in 2016 as compared with 1,600 deliveries performed by 160 midwives in clinics in the greater Gaborone area.

However, what the ministry has not been able to confirm is the reasons why many pregnant mothers prefer the hospital over other health facilities. The only argument from the officials is that midwives in clinics and hospitals are trained at same institutions and therefore mothers should not congest the hospital. Even more disturbing is the position that the hospital will only admit mothers who are delivering their fifth child.