Female residents of Abuom, a farming community at Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region have expressed worry about the high rate at which pregnant women lose their lives due to the bad nature of their roads.
Patients and pregnant women in labour are carried on okada and 'aboboyaa' to nearby communities before they board vehicles to hospitals due to the poor road network and lack of a health facility in the area.
The community also records many accidents due to the poor nature of the roads.
Residents who were speaking to MyNewsGh.com's Ashanti Region correspondent said the situation gets worse during the rainy season as the road becomes inaccessible even to motorbikes, compelling people to trek long distances.
According to the residents, the situation has led to the deaths of many pregnant women due to the deplorable road network in the community.
Nana Yaa Akua Adopem, a leader of the women group revealed that women at Abuom are now afraid to sleep with their husbands because they could get pregnant and not be able to access proper healthcare due to the poor road network in the community.
“We are afraid to get pregnant not because we don’t want to give birth but the nature of the road is stopping us from giving birth. Just imagine, a pregnant woman will be carried in ‘Aboboyaa’ to give birth. The road is very bad and sometimes a pregnant woman in labour loses her life when she is in labour. The situation is very disheartening,” she lamented.
Nana Nimako, an opinion leader in the community who has been a victim of the bad nature of the road said “I lost my sister because we couldn’t get a car to take her to hospital. We are suffering too much. The situation is also affecting farming activities in this community. We are appealing to the government to come to our aid because we are all Ghanaians
Vehicles in the community usually break down due to the bad nature of the roads