<<Print>>

TEN OUT of 554 women have been reported dead this year in the Volta Region as a result of childbirth related problems. Though the number is alarming, Dr. Yao Amakpa, a gynecologist at the Volta Regional Hospital, says that is not the true reflection of the situation as most of the deaths that occur in the region are not reported and most of them not audited. The alarming nature of the situation has brought together doctors from mainly the public health facilities in the Volta Region to meet in Ho on Monday to brainstorm and put up strategies in combating the situation, under the sponsorship of the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV). Dr. Amakpa mentioned in a presentation at the workshop that seven out of 631 mothers died in 2007, with eight out of 588 dying in 2008 from child birth related problems. He said though the figures from the regional hospital, which is a tertiary referral facility, might not be the total reflection of the regional status, it nonetheless illustrates the problem quite well. �It is not the total reflection of the region as the number of deliveries that occur at the VRH are less, compared to the district hospitals and that is why our maternal mortality ratio will be higher than that of the district hospitals,� he said. He continued that the world statistics of 90 percent of the 1,600 daily deaths from pregnancy and its complications, which is happening in Sub-Saharan and Asia, with only one percent in developed countries, calls for worry for Ghana. Dr Amakpa mentioned severe bleeding, sepsis, eclampsia, which is attack of convulsions, high blood pressure and other complications in late pregnancy and unsafe abortions as some of the main causes of pregnancy related deaths in the region and elsewhere in Ghana, adding that delays in identifying and evaluating danger signs, reaching facilities and giving attention, are some of the factors influencing maternal deaths in the region. Dr Amakpa said there were also problems of logistics, staff with inadequate skills, as well as cost of care, stressing that these must be worked on in tackling the problem of maternal deaths. He was worried that pregnant women listened to their pastors rather than their health professionals and advised church leaders to continue to pray for the pregnant but encourage them to follow the advice of their health providers. Medical Superintendent of the Volta Regional Hospital and the acting Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Geoffrey Nyamuame, expressed regret that despite numerous interventions by various governments, maternal and child healthcare indicators were still poor and urged the doctors to lead the way in bringing improvement in the management of maternal cases. SNV Portfolio Coordinator, Nick Commandeur, said the change that would make an impact in emergency obstetrics care must not necessarily come in a big way but in a small but consistent ways. He pointed out that what is important is that caregivers must show total commitment to doing things in the right way.