Siem Reap

With the promise of better care for both mother and baby during labour, the Maternal Child Medical Centre was inaugurated yesterday at the Siem Reap Provincial Hospital.

The inauguration was presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh, who said the centre was the first of its kind. “We would like to guarantee that every child and pregnant woman is safe during and after childbirth,” Banh said.

According to UNICEF, the infant mortality rate in Cambodia was 3.6 per cent in 2011 while maternal mortality was 0.21 per cent.

In Siem Reap, hospital chairman Kros Sarath said that figure would likely drop thanks to the new centre.

“I expect that the maternal death rate will surely decrease after having this maternal centre installed here” he said.

The centre was funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, at a cost of more than $3 million, while doctors and nurses employed in the centre were all specially trained in South Korea prior to its opening.