Hilton Colombo came to Castle Street Maternity Hospital yesterday to felicitate the first 21 babies born at the hospital for 2008.

The parents were given hampers filled with items they will find invaluable during the infants’ first month.

This was a part of Hilton Colombo’s celebration of 21 years in Sri Lanka. Since September last year, Hilton continues to organize various events and promotions on the 21st of each month until September 21 of this year. 21 percent of the revenues collected at these events will be donated to charities, particularly the Ceylon Deaf and Dumb School.

Hilton Colombo currently maintains the kitchen at the Cancer Hospital.

Stress and strain is the price paid to maintain the country’s premier maternity hospital because rural maternity healthcare is inadequate according to senior gynecologists at Castle Street Maternity Hospital.

"The state is finding it difficult to provide everything for free," said Dr. Asita Wijesundera.

"We averaged 1,650 births last year (2007). 40 percent of them were caesarean. The hospital incurred a cost of around Rs. 35,000 per month on caesarian births alone," he said. He noted that private hospitals would charge around Rs. 100,000 for a caesarian procedure. Incidentally, the hospital has recorded 50 births for the first 35 hours of 2008.

But, what concerns the gynecologists the most is the fact that too many people from all over the country find there way to this hospital, which should not be the case.

"The country needs more hospitals like ours in the periphery," Dr. Ananda Ranatunga told The Island Financial Review. He pointed out that rural hospitals should upgrade their maternity healthcare to be on par with Castle Street. "Patients end up spending quite a lot on travelling to and from Colombo in the process as well," he said.

The two good doctors said that the influx of patients into the hospital was straining the hospital’s resources and making their jobs more stressful and tough. "We are on call 24 hours a day, seven days of the week," they said.

It’s a matter of trust. The gynecologists believe the hospital is maintaining an impeccable record which keeps pulling in the patients.

"We had six to eight live births in 2007. The country recorded around 300,000 live births last year," Dr. Wijesundera said, "and all the complicated cases and premature babies are transferred to us from all over the island."