Accra records over 237 deliveries during Easter

Some major hospitals in Accra recorded over 237 deliveries during the Easter festivities according to official sources.

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital registered 124 newborns during the period with a greater percentage of the mothers going through normal and safe delivery, hospital sources told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday.

The two labour wards, one and two, of the Hospital registered 77 male babies and 47 newborn females from Friday 25 to Monday 28.

Hospital officials say 77 of the babies came through ‘normal’ deliveries while operations were performed on the remaining 47.

Four sets of twins were born during the period while three sets came in the course of normal delivery but health officials said they performed caesarian section on one set.

Mrs Veronica Mensah, Principal Nursing Officer at the Labour Ward, said the facility did not record any death involving a mother but noted that some babies gave up during the period, though she could not immediately give out any figures.

The Mamprobi Polyclinic recorded 37 deliveries, Madam Ruth Lartey, the Midwife in charge, told the Ghana News Agency said on Monday.

She said out of the 34 deliveries, 19 were males and 16 were females and they were all normal deliveries.

She said Easter Friday saw the highest deliveries with 15 births with Easter Monday following with seven as at 1030hrs, adding: "The day is still young and there are more clients likely to deliver before the close of work."

The ward had only 14 beds and sometime mothers had to deliver on the floor when the cases outnumbered the beds, she said, and called for expansion of the ward.

"This clinic since its establishment in 1975 has not seen any expansion and the population around it is growing".

Madam Lartey said the Polyclinic transferred emergency cases and pregnant women who needed an operation to the Ridge Hospital and the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for attention.

At the Ridge Hospital, Ms Susanna Asamoah, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of Labour ward said 76 births were recorded between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

This included 21 males and 23 females while a total of 32 babies made up of 15 males and 17 females were also born through caesarean sections.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News agency, she said the hospital did not record any death during the period adding that ‘’there were however some of the mothers who underwent caesarean sections who were still on admission for more monitoring’’.

At the La Polyclinic, Mrs Vivian Ogun, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of maternity, noted that the hospital recorded a total of 30 births between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

This, she said, included 16 males, 14 females and three others who were born through caesarean sections.

She noted that although most of the mothers had been discharged, some were still on admission for monitoring due to some complications encountered during the delivery.

She added that most of the mothers, especially those who gave birth on Easter Sunday were very happy because they felt they had given birth to ‘’special’’ children who had something in common with Jesus Christ who resurrected on Easter Sunday.

Ghana recorded a decline in its Maternal Mortality Rate by 49 percent between 1990 and 2013 but was still far behind the Millennium Development Goal 5 by the end of 214, according to United Nations report.

More than half of infant deaths in Ghana happen within the first month of life, and the newborn death rate has not improved in recent years, says UNICEF.

Malnutrition is a significant indirect cause of child mortality, contributing to one-third of all childhood deaths, it added.

Although levels of malnutrition in Ghana have dropped, 23 percent of children are stunted while 57 percent are anaemic.

Nutrition is particularly poor in Northern Ghana, where almost two in every five children are stunted and more than 80 percent of children suffer from anaemia.