Maternal Deaths Decrease In Brong-Ahafo Region

Medical statistics for the first half of 2014 indicated a decrease in maternal deaths in the Brong-Ahafo Region. That signified a reduction by six deaths since the same period in 2013, recording 50 deaths, Mrs. Martha Larbi, Brong-Ahafo Regional Deputy Director of Nursing Services (DDNS), in- charge of Public Health, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a day�s workshop for 50 Midwives in Sunyani. The workshop, sponsored by the United Nations Fund for Population Agency (UNFPA), was attended by 50 midwives, selected from the 27 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Region, to upgrade their skill competence of maternal health delivery in their respective areas of operation. They were taken through various topics, including �Unsafe Abortion/Post Abortion Care (PAC)�, �Refresher in the use of Magnesium Sulphate�, �Care of the new born baby�, �Haemorrhage�, and �Overview of Maternal Issues�. Mrs Larbi explained that in 2013, health skilled personnel, that is, doctors and midwives, attended to a total of 32,480 maternal patients, out of which 50 died, while this year, out of 36,834 attended to, 44 died. She attributed the cause of death to unsafe abortion and its attendant excessive bleeding, and advised midwives to assist in awareness creation about unsafe abortion, as well as the need for ante-natal attendance by pregnant mothers for proper monitoring and observation. Dr. Michael Adjei Rockson, District Director of Health Services (DDHS) for Tain, advised midwives against the practice of requesting their clients to bring along items like disinfectants and soap to health facilities when it was time for delivery. Dr. Rockson explained �these unauthorized demands prevent poor pregnant women to report to accredited health facilities, thereby forcing them to seek other unorthodox means of delivery.� He also educated participants on symptoms of possible abortion-related complications, and how stable and unstable the patient could be managed, before she could be referred to competent skilled personnel for further treatment. On Post Partum Haemorrhage (PPH) system of delivery, Dr. Rockson urged midwives to always ensure in advance that necessary items for maternal emergencies were handy or available to avoid time-wasting in such crucial situations.