​The opening of the Westbury Clinic's Midwifery Obstetric Unit (MOU) will see local communities receiving 24-hour maternal health services in their backyard. 
This comes after MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko together with the Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Kabelo Gwamanda and MMC for Health and Social Development, Cllr Ennie Makhafola officially handed the MOU to the community on Friday (17 May). 
The newly built MOU provides 24-hour maternal health services to the communities of Westbury and surrounding areas, which include antenatal and postnatal care, midwifery and obstetrics, and counselling on choice of termination of pregnancy amongst others. This will relieve pressure on Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital as the community previously accessed maternal health services at the facility. 
MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko said that the MOU is equipped to provide comprehensive care to expectant mothers, ensuring safer pregnancies and healthier births.
"This MOU will make high-quality obstetric care more accessible to the community as they had to travel long distances to receive such care. It symbolises our  dedication to reducing maternal and infant mortality rates, which remains a critical priority. We aim to provide a safer and healthier environment for our mothers and their new bundles of joy," said MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko. 
The MOU has an admission room to examine patients, a First Stage room with two beds to monitor the progress of labour until patients are ready for delivery and a delivery room with two beds. It also has two post-natal rooms, one with three beds and the other with two beds, a placenta room with a freezer, stock and medicine room and linen room amongst others.
It is equipped with two infant warms, two suction machines, baby weighing scale and dynamap machine to check for vital signs of mothers after delivery amongst other medical equipment.
In addition, the MEC said that there are plans to also establish a 24-hour accident and Emergency unit at the Westbury Clinic and other surrounding primary health facilities to relieve pressure on Helen Joseph Hospital.