The Konongo-Odumase Government Hospital in the Asante-Akim Central Municipality, has pleaded for urgent steps to build a maternity block to end the severe discomfort mothers and their babies go through at the facility.
Women in labour are forced to wait in turns, in narrow corridors of the hospital to be delivered of their babies. The hospital supervises an average of 120 deliveries a month.
Dr. Isaac Brobbey-Kyei, the Medical Superintendent said the pressure had been overwhelming as the lie-in ward had the capacity for just eight beds.
He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the staff of the maternity department had been operating under enormous stress caused largely by inadequate space.
He described the prevailing situation as “bad and completely unacceptable” with women compelled to sleep on the floor after delivery.
“Things need to change and the change must happen quickly,” he stated.
Dr. Brobbey-Kyei noted that the circumstances where mothers shared the same bed with their newborns could cause cross infections.
He said they were often left with no option but to discharge patients earlier than required, just to create space for fresh cases.
Reporters of the GNA had visited the facility under STAR-Ghana’s sponsored media auditing and tracking of development projects, an initiative launched to put the spotlight on how government’s resources were helping to transform the lives of the people, particularly the rural population.
The goal is to aid transparency, promote accountability and good local governance.
Dr Brobbey-Kyei said the facility took the initiative to construct a two-storey maternity block from its internally-generated funds but ‘the project was struggling.’
He said it had been over a decade since they began the work but it had remained at the foundation level because of limited inflows.
He, therefore, appealed to philanthropists and well-to-do citizens of the area- both home and abroad- for support.
Mr. Osei Mintah, the Administrator, said they had made special appeal to some corporate bodies for assistance but were yet to receive any responses.
