The maternity ward at JPMC is an initiative by USAID-Pakistan to help meet the family planning needs, boost maternal and child health, improve survival rates, health behavior change and strengthen the health systems in Pakistan to vitalize sustaining improvement in this sector. The project had to be carried out in a running hospital. The project site was congested & all construction activities had to be carried out in a safe & healthy environment. The goal of the USAID- Pakistan’s MCH Program is to improve neonatal and maternal health services to women through construction of a new maternity ward at JPMC, and will serve a very large population of Karachi and of the surrounding areas.
For being maternity wards, as an extension to existing OPD and Surgical suites building, this building had numerous constraints to be respected. A system of connecting walkways at two
levels was created to link movement, entire facility is accessible to wheelchair users at all levels with the help of central courtyard ramp, the same system of link walkways and ramps helped to achieve Patient privacy during movement from the surrounding existing facilities.
Building orientation was optimized for controlled solar exposure and to grab prevailing sea breeze during summer. Public areas were created in the back to easy pressure over the main entrance and to ensure security for the patients. Careful selection of permanent and long lasting finishing will help minimize operational cost over the years to come.
