16/02/2026
Massive capital injection supercharges neonatal survival
HARARE – In a quiet corridor on the third floor of The Avenues Clinic, the language of medicine meets the architecture of hope.
Behind freshly fitted doors and softly lit walls lies a refurbished maternity wing designed not merely for comfort, but for survival, a space where mothers recover in dignity and premature infants fight, and often win, their first battles for breath.
“Behind here is our well-known and acclaimed neonatal intensive care unit where all the miracles happen,” General Manager Sibusisiwe Ndhlovu said during a tour of the upgraded facility. “We are proud of this unit because of the clinical outcomes that we get in this unit where you find that even babies as young as 26 weeks go home after being taken care of.”
The remark was not poetic flourish. It was clinical fact.
The neonatal intensive care unit, described by Ndhlovu as a “miracle-making machine,” has been expanded by four additional beds in response to rising demand, not only from mothers who deliver at Avenues, but from facilities across the country that refer critically ill newborns in need of advanced care.
“We would like to cater for everyone, our own inpatients as well as for those who might have chosen to go to other institutions but have complications with the babies, and they would like the best care that is available here,” she said.
The refurbishment of Ward 3 North forms part of a wider hospital transformation that has already touched medical wards, private suites, theatres, and critical care units. But it is here, in maternity and neonatal care, where the investment finds its most human expression.
Chief Financial Officer Peddy Chigunduru disclosed that nearly US$4 million has been deployed so far in infrastructure renewal and clinical technology.
“In terms of deployment of capital, we are purposefully and meaningfully deploying capital to the most impactful areas,” he said. “The duty that you see must go in line with the service level that we intend to deploy.”
Of that figure, approximately US$2.5 million has gone directly into high-tech clinical equipment, including advanced neonatal systems designed to stabilise and sustain the most fragile of lives.
“We are very deliberate,” Chigunduru added. “We’re investing in corresponding technology that would then make sure that the clinical outcomes are guaranteed.”
Among the specialised acquisitions are giraffe incubators, highly controlled neonatal environments, and a rare transport shuttle system that allows premature babies to remain in the same incubator while being moved from theatre to NICU, reducing handling risks during critical moments.
Principal Nursing Officer Florence Ogwal described the technology with clinical clarity.
“Our NICU is one of the best in the region because of the clinical outcomes and in terms of the equipment,” she said. “We are the first to have the latest ventilators for neonates, and we’ve got equipment that even South Africa doesn’t have, what we call a shuttle.”
The shuttle, she explained, connects directly to the giraffe incubator so that “the baby doesn’t have to be taken out and changed, the baby is in the same incubator.” Germany, she noted, is among the few countries with similar capability.
For mothers, the transformation is equally tangible. The redesigned maternity ward now offers seven private rooms and eight twin sharing spaces, reflecting feedback from women who sought privacy after delivery but found existing facilities stretched.
“What was left for us was to match that standard of clinical care with the infrastructure,” Ndhlovu said.
Across the corridor from the new maternity suites, machines hum with precision. Inside temperature controlled incubators, infants born at the edge of viability are monitored by ventilators calibrated to breaths measured in grams of possibility.
The hospital’s ambition is explicit, to build a centre of excellence where advanced maternal and neonatal care can be delivered locally, safely, and without compromise.
In the stillness of the NICU, the investment is not counted in dollars.
It is counted in heartbeats that steady, lungs that strengthen, and in the moment, a 26 week old infant leaves the ward, not as a statistic, but as a survivor.
Reporting by Anesu Masamvu
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