Abortion is Leading Cause of Death in Accra

A study conducted in the city of Accra has revealed that abortion is a leading cause of maternal death in the city.

This finding contrasts with an earlier one that span a period of ten years - 1984 to 1994 - which revealed that it was the third leading cause of maternal mortality.

Thirty percent of the cases studied were, said to be induced abortion, that is, people intentionally terminated the pregnancy while the rest were spontaneous.

Richard Adanu M.D. Obstetrics/ Gynaecology fellow who read the findings at a roundtable conference in Accra on Thursday said, those who forcefully ended pregnancy usually suffered spontaneous abortion later.

Adanu said some of the respondents he interviewed terminated their pregnancies because they either wanted to continue their education or their careers. About a third of his respondents, cited problems with partners as the motivating factor for their actions. He said it was not clear whether economic reasons compelled the women's action as the situation was not the same about 30 years ago.

Adanu believed that the discovery was lower than the actual situation on the ground. He refuted the notion that the women who committed abortion were irresponsible saying " they are responsible women who are forced by circumstances to enter into relationships." He added that those women are supposed to be helped.

The study was part of a project dubbed "women's health in the city of Accra" in which young resear5chers took various subjects relating to women's health and investigated. The topics included Beauty Salon workers at Lapaz, reasons fears and emotions behind induced abortion, commercial sex work night clubs and powers at Circle Working mothers and stress - lady doctors and nurses of Korle-Bu Teaching hospital and eclamptic convulsion local women's knowledge and emergency episodes.

The [project aimed at making the participating researchers look into their chosen subject the findings of which they were supposed to write narratives and poems. It also included video documentary.

The research collectives was formed in March 200 and by August the same year, had about twenty social scientists, humanists and clinicians affiliated to the University of Ghana, Korle-Bu teaching hospital and the University of Michigan and the Multi-disciplinary African women's health Network.

"Women's health in the city of Accra" is their first project and seeks to produce thickly described narratives about persons and institutions, spaces and places and ordinary and critical events. It also seeks to use sampling and mapping techniques to trace and contextualise broad view patterns in present in those data; and use ethnographic video documentary techniques to produce video for North American students and Ghanaian citizens.

Participants who had completed their projects were given certificates in recognition of their contribution to the body of knowledge. The programme organizers said the findings and the narratives would be compiled in book forms to serve as a knowledge base for the public, especially the youth.