Haemorrhage identified as main case of maternal deaths

Accra, July 19, GNA - Ghana Maternal Health Survey conducted by the Ghana Health Service has shown that excessive bleeding contributed to about a quarter of all maternal deaths in 2009 throughout the country.

A total of 905 maternal deaths were recorded in health facilities nationwide. Acute blood loss in women during childbirth could lead to death since the blood volume will drastically reduce making it impossible for oxygen supply to the vital organs.

Ms Honesty Numetu, Head of the Health Promotion Unit of the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, told the Ghana News Agency that haemorrhage had been identified as the main cause of maternal deaths in the region and these deaths could have been prevented if blood lost was replaced.

She noted that a lot of concern had been expressed about shortage of blood in the blood banks as every human being required healthy blood to exist, 93but little provision has been made by community members to have adequate blood in stock at all times in the various blood banks".

"Efforts by the Ghana Health Service and the National Blood Transfusion Service may not yield the desired results without the involvement and commitment of community members," she added. This situation has called for the need for the Regional Health Directorate in collaboration with its partners to embark on blood donation campaigns to store more blood in their various blood banks to save the lives of women.

Maternal mortality ratio in 2007 was 541 deaths per 100,000 live births. In 2008, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital had 10,312 pregnant women reporting and 69 of them died from child birth related problems. Ms Numetu explained that though there were many causes of bleeding, the commonest cause of excessive bleeding following child birth was the failure of the uterus to contract effectively. "But some live-saving measures can be used to manage the situation and if the loss of blood is high blood transfusion may be required."

Ms Numetu called for urgent blood transfusion which she described as the only single effective treatment and appealed to Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of donating blood voluntarily to stock the blood banks with enough safe blood that would be readily available to help save lives.

She urged Ghanaians to donate voluntarily to help save lives of women from dying when giving birth, since child birth should be a joyous one.