Newly born babies and mothers stranded over unpaid bills

Sekondi, Feb 06, GNA - Thirteen babies and their mothers are stranded at the Maternity Unit of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital since January 26 over unpaid bills.

The women cannot pay their medical bills ranging between 300,000 cedis and 2.7 million cedis, a hospital source told the Ghana News Agency on Monday.

The source said while some of the women delivered through the caesarean section (CS), others delivered normally.

A source told the GNA that all the women and their babies have been relocated into two side wards at the hospital due to congestion at the Labour Ward and some are compelled to sleep on mattresses with their babies on the floor.

The source explained that as soon as a person is discharged from the facility, all bills are stopped but since they have not gone home, they continue to share all the facilities with other patients without paying the extra cost.

In an interview with the GNA Madam Mary Eshun from Shama and Mrs Justina Amissah Naykene from Anaji, who were covered by the NHIS, said they were extremely delighted when they were told that their bills would be absorbed by the NHIS.

In October last year the government made deliveries frees of charge but the Regional Health Management Team (RHMT) and the District Health Management Team (DHMT) suspended the free delivery programme on December 01 last year.