Get Started

Putting up a lying-in clinic does not require the owner to be a licensed midwife or obstetrician-gynecologist. Anybody who sees the potential and need for it can put up one.  Here are some steps to help you start your own lying in facility.

STEP 2:  A typical clinic layout

Usually, a lying-in clinic would have six sections—a waiting area, a labor room, a delivery room, a recovery room, a procedure room, and the common comfort room, requiring a floor area of at least 6 square meters (sq m), each. For a two-bed labor or recovery room, you would need around 15 sq m each. The recovery room should have its own comfort room. You will probably need some 80 sq m for the entire clinic.

STEP 3: Staff your clinic

A lying-in clinic should have a 24-hour resident doctor or licensed midwife. This resident doctor may be a general physician, but you need to have an OB-gynecologist and pediatrician on call. You must also have a tie-up with a nearby hospital for those instances when a patient might need additional and more specialized treatment. Some of the medical procedures that may be done only in a licensed hospital are caesarean section, curettage (raspa), and blood transfusions.

STEP 5: Purchase the necessary equipment

The basic equipment and facilities you would need are the following: adult weighing scale, blood pressure apparatus, weighing scale for babies, a bag valve mask for adult and for baby, emergency medicines and paraphernalia (such as IV fluid, IV set, methergine, ampulse and syntocinon), syringes, sterilizer, delivery tray, fetus doppler, stethoscope, delivery table, delivery set, suction apparatus for baby, oxygen set, vitamin K injection for baby, patients’ gowns, beds, chairs, sheets, and blankets.