At least 30 women die annually at the Tema General hospital (TGH) through maternal mortality; with severe hemorrhage or profuse bleeding identified as the major cause of all such deaths in Tema metropolis.
This was disclosed by the only gynaecologist at the TGH, Dr. Sylvia Deganus, when she addressed a public dialogue on maternal health at the Assembly Hall of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) last Wednesday. The policy dialogue on maternal health, which was organized by the Ghana MDGs/GCAP Campaign Coalition, in collaboration with the TMA and Ghana Health Service (GHS), was aimed at creating the awareness of maternal mortality amongst the public, in order to get everybody on board for its prevention.
Speaking at the function, Dr. Daganus disclosed that seven deaths, which include four from womb convulsion, two from loss of blood and the other from HIV/AIDS, were recorded in the last three months, between May and July at the hospital.The dialogue which was the first of its kind to be organized in the metropolis in the year, saw the participation of both men and women from the various community groups in and outside the metropolis.
Speaking on the theme �maternal Health In Ghana; The Case of Tema,� Dr. Deganus also stated high blood pressure as another common cause of maternal deaths adding, �when the pregnant woman notices that she is swelling, she ignores the changes and consoles herself with the fact that she might be pregnant with a male child, hence the sudden change in weight. She advised pregnant women to report immediately to the hospital as soon as they detect new changes during their conception period.
The gynaecologist disclosed further that about 20 to 30 women deliver daily at the TGH, adding that this was a big issue to be looked at, since the hospital lacked doctors and nurses to attend to all these women.She continued that one out of five of these women have to go through a caesarean operation which takes about two hours per person, leaving the doctor no room to attend to other emergency situation at the hospital. She further reiterated that all expectant women must plan ahead of time, by making sure that they make provisions for all the things they may need in the course of their delivery, including transportation to hospital and availability of blood among others.
<<Print>>