The Eastern Regional Health Director, Winfred Ofosu has disclosed that 49 institutional maternal deaths have been recorded in the region from January to May 2022.
He said the current status of maternal deaths in the region points to a sharp rise in the menace, compared to previous years, adding that in 2021, a total of 89 pregnant women lost their lives, compared to the first quarter of this year.
“The 49 maternal deaths recorded in the first quarter of this year are very worrying. Many of the deaths were preventable. Last year, it came down to 89 deaths in terms of real numbers. As at now, we have already recorded 49 deaths and so that is pretty high because we have not even completed halfway down the year, so it’s alarming, and every single maternal death is alarming,” he said.
Dr. Ofosu disclosed this during the launch of “Zero tolerance for maternal deaths”, an initiative by the Eastern Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to help in curbing maternal deaths.
The initiative, which was launched in Koforidua on Tuesday, was under the theme “Stop preventable maternal deaths and disability.”
Causes
He cited issues such as shortage of blood at blood banks in various health facilities, delay in transporting and referring pregnant women in labour and to well-equipped hospitals, poor eating habits among pregnant women, unsafe abortion even among married women, and inefficiency in some health facilities as the major cause of maternal deaths.
The Eastern Regional Deputy Director of Nursing Service, Doris Darkoa Mantey, said the initiative is a new commitment by the regional health directorate to significantly reduce the high rate of these preventable maternal deaths and associated maternal disabilities through effective collaboration of all stakeholders.
She noted that many pregnant women fail to attend antenatal care, but they rather prefer attending prayer camps and herbal centres for herbal concoctions, which do not help their conditions.
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