Dumsor causes death of a newborn baby at Tema General Hospital - Report

A newborn died at the Tema General Hospital due to the erratic power supply situation at the facility, Accra-based GHOne TV has reported.

"Erratic power cut on Tuesday evening plunged the neonatal unit of Tema General Hospital into chaos, resulting in the heartbreaking loss of a newborn," the channel posted on social media on March 27, 2024.

"The neonatal unit, where infants requiring intensive care are housed, relies heavily on electricity to sustain life-saving equipment such as oxygen support and emergency care devices. The generator intended to provide backup power for the unit is prone to shutting down when overloaded," their post added.

The development comes barely 24 hours after a video of the blackout went viral on social media platforms amid citizen anger at rolling power blackouts across the country.

In the said video, the neonatal ward is plunged in darkness due to a loss of power supply.

It is not known exactly when the video was taken, however, a voice behind the video, supposedly that of a staff at the hospital, gave context to the video.

“There is lights out here at the Tema General Hospital. This baby is on CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) and all of it have gone off. While there is oxygen available, there is no flow meter to connect... If we don’t get light in few minutes, the probability that we might lose a lot of babies is high,” she stated.

The staff indicated that the unit is full, including up to 10 babies who are in critical condition. The video exposes the stark reality of the impact of the power crisis.

In another video at the same facilities, some mothers are captured fanning their babies with cloth because of the heat in the wards after the electricity went out.

GhanaWeb did not reach hospital authorities at the time of filing this report to corroborate this claim.

Erratic power cut on Tuesday evening plunged the neonatal unit of Tema General Hospital into chaos, resulting in the heartbreaking loss of a newborn.

The neonatal unit, where infants requiring intensive care are housed, relies heavily on electricity to sustain life-saving… pic.twitter.com/EwyCoW3NKa

— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) March 27, 2024

Amid public calls for a load-shedding schedule to help consumers adjust to the crisis, the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Company of Ghana remain adamant, insisting that the situation requires no timetable.

During a recent interview, the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, asked those seeking for a timetable to go ahead and release their own if they insist there is dumsor.

His comments have been described by some critics as insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians.

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