CAPACITY PLANNING FOR A PUBLIC MATERNITY WARD USING DISCRETE-EVENT SIMULATION

This study proposes a Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) model to evaluate the operational capacity of a large public hospital maternity unit. Implemented using an open-source framework, the model captures interdependent maternal and neonatal flows under stochastic variability and resource constraints. Validation results showed strong agreement with real data, with an error below 4%. Findings indicate that the current configuration meets both average and peak demand while complying with waiting time standards. Scenario analysis identified labor induction as a bottleneck and showed that adding one bed can reduce waiting times by up to 95%. The study contributes by advancing DES applications in public maternity systems and providing quantitative support for capacity planning under budget constraints.