Luxury maternity hospital closes down

Cape Town - Exactly five months after it opened to the public, Cape Town’s luxury maternity hospital, the Origin Family-Centred Hospital, has closed after it filed for liquidation.

The Parow hospital, which opened at the end of May, was run by midwives until Monday and had facilities that promoted natural birth and relaxation such as birthing baths, birthing assistants or doula, and luxurious, hotel-like rooms. The 16-bed facility encouraged more vaginal births and fewer caesarean rates.

Its antique French theme and openness to families, including children, promised comfort to moms-to-be.

Despite the growing popularity of C-sections in the country’s private sector, which stands between 75 and 85 percent, the hospital said it planned to cap its C-section between 15 and 20 percent, in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations and on a par with other First World countries such as the UK and Canada.

Boasting 10 labour rooms, which were also used as postnatal rooms where new mothers and their family members, such as spouses or older children, could sleep, the hospital also had six birthing baths to help relaxation and help facilitate birth.

Yesterday, Leverne Gething, spokeswoman for the hospital, confirmed that provisional liquidation status was put in place on Monday.

She said the hospital was temporarily not admitting clients until further notice.

“This situation has arisen because of an application for liquidation by our funder, which was presented in court on Monday. It is known that an offer to buy the business is on the table and we are very hopeful that a transfer of ownership will take place speedily,” she said.

Gething described the closure of the hospital as “distressing”, particularly for patients who were about to give birth.

It was not clear how long the hospital would remain closed.

Gething said clients were being referred to various health facilities, including Panorama Mediclinic, Vincent Pallotti Hospital, Birthing at Al-Nisa Maternity Home and public hospitals.

Women were encouraged to take their antenatal cards to their new service providers.

sipokazi.fokazi@inl.co.za

CAPE ARGUS