The construction of a dedicated maternity and post-natal ward at Jayavarman VII Hospital, also known as the third Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital, in Siem Reap province, has reached 80 per cent completion.

The Siem Reap provincial Department of Information said on August 10 that the ward is being built at a cost of $3.2 million, and will be equipped with 120 beds, 80 for mothers and 40 for newborns.

Jayavarman VII Hospital director-general Denis Laurent said the current hospital compound – which includes 33 buildings – has 250 beds for new mothers. This was unable to meet demand from an increasing number of patients, so the expansion was very necessary.

According to the hospital, each day sees from 1,000 to 1,500 children presenting as patients, with from 270 to 350 of them being admitted.

Between four and five hundred expectant mothers receive checkups on an average day, with 60 to 80 babies being delivered.

Laurent thanked the government and people of Cambodia, as well as philanthropists from Switzerland and different countries around the world, for their support for the hospitals, which provide free healthcare to the children of the Kingdom.