Peceli Naviticoko 
The antenatal booking services at the Makoi Maternity Unit is currently in three-day operation due to the shortage of midwives at the facility.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong says this is to allow midwives to cater and attend to other services after an increase of 712 births last year.
This is equivalent to more than 100 deliveries in a month at the facility.
“They have to cut back a little bit on their booking hours because of the inability to mend the place, but as I said, I’m glad that we do have a lot of retired midwives who are coming back again, asking to come and help, and also happy to come and work as part of our salary workforce.”
Fiji’s Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer, Colleen Wilson, says work continues as normal, but they have to find ways to accommodate other services at the facility, even though antenatal booking is an important service.
“So instead of the full 5 days, they moved it to 3 days so that they could do other things in those 2 days.”
The Makoi Birthing Unit looks after a population of 115,000 in the Nasinu Subdivision, of which 26,450 are under the childbearing age of 14 to 49 years.
