A total of 3000 maternal deaths in 2013 were recorded as a result of severe bleeding and other complications during delivery, Prof Richard M.K Adanu, dean, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, has indicated.
Prof Adanu disclosed this on Tuesday in Accra at a public lecture organised by the National Blood Bank as part of its activities to mark this year�s World Blood Donor Day which is slated for June 14, 2014 under the theme: �Safe Blood For Saving Mothers�.
According to him, eight women across the country die daily during delivery, adding, �1 in 66 women currently aged 15 will die from a maternal cause by age 45.�
Prof Adanu in a presentation titled: �Safe Blood For Safe Motherhood�, noted that many of such lives lost could have been saved �but most often there are no bloods to give to the victims who have lost their blood severely through bleeding.�
He, however, stated that the figure from 2013 was impressive over those of the previous years and urged that the country must target �zero maternal deaths and not 10% or 15% reduction�, adding that �we need to ensure that our mothers do not die from undertaking a natural duty-that is giving birth.�
He called for the abolition of the Traditional Birth Attendance (TBA) practices across the country, saying that �TBA is not the best for our women. We need to train more midwives to cater for our mothers, wives, and sisters during delivery and not TBAs.�
Meanwhile, Prof Adanu has urged Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of donating blood regularly in order to save lives across the country.
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur on her part, urged the National Blood Bank to continually organise such public lectures to create awareness of the importance of blood donation.
The World Blood Donor Day is celebrated in June every year to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life saving gifts of blood.
The host country for this year�s celebration is Sri Lanka.
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