Over 7,000 Pregnant Women Treated on Floor at PNG's PMGH in 2024, Says Leading Obstetrician

Professor Glen Mola

Port Moresby — A senior medical professional has raised alarm over ongoing overcrowding at the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), revealing that more than 7,000 pregnant women were treated on the floor of the hospital’s maternity ward last year due to a chronic lack of space and resources.

Professor Glen Mola, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Papua New Guinea and PMGH, took to social media yesterday to highlight the dire conditions patients and staff continue to face. According to Mola, thousands of women received critical maternal care while lying on the floor — in admission areas, birthing rooms, and post-natal wards.

“This situation is both humiliating and degrading for the patients and for the medical staff,” he wrote. “We’ve reported it to the hospital’s management repeatedly, but nothing has changed.”

Professor Mola disclosed that, on a daily basis, between 10 and 30 women are treated on the floor of the maternity unit due to the shortage of beds. He compared the situation to other hospitals, where even a single incident of a patient being treated on the floor would trigger a formal report.

In his post, Mola also criticized the hospital board for turning down a substantial international aid package that could have eased the crisis. He said that in 2022, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) offered a K100 million grant to build a new perinatal center at PMGH. However, the proposal was ultimately rejected by the hospital's board and management.

“This decision, had it been different, would have prevented the current overcrowding,” Mola stated. “The plan involved extensive collaboration between local medical specialists and Japanese experts. Construction was estimated to take just over a year, meaning the new facility could already have been operational.”

He explained that the proposed center would have included 24 high-dependency beds for mothers recovering from complicated births, intensive care units for both women and newborns, and dedicated lab facilities for maternal and neonatal care.

Responding to the claims, PMGH CEO Dr. Paki Molumi said the project was not rejected, but rather earmarked for development at the planned Gerehu Hospital, in line with the government’s strategy to decentralize some of PMGH’s services and retain it as a national referral and teaching hospital.

Nevertheless, Mola said the board’s preference for a long-term vision — involving eight-storey towers and commercial redevelopment of existing hospital land — effectively stalled an immediate, practical solution.

He also painted a bleak picture of daily operations in the maternity ward, describing how staff must step over patients to access treatment areas and navigate emergency trolleys through congested spaces. He lamented the loss of two mothers and two babies over the weekend, suggesting their deaths were partially due to lack of capacity.

“It’s not just PMGH. The entire National Capital District health system is stretched to the brink,” Mola added. He further criticized the lack of basic necessities such as soap, paper towels, functional lighting, and power outlets in the maternity ward.

Despite the best efforts of the nursing managers and medical coordinators, he said the situation remains unchanged after years of appeals.

“I can’t stay silent anymore,” Mola concluded. “I need to be able to sleep at night, instead of lying awake thinking about how bad it’s gotten for women seeking health care in our capital.”

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