Tema General Hospital records 21 maternal deaths

The Tema General Hospital recorded a total of 21 maternal deaths between the months of January and December, last year Dr Gerald Osei-Owusu, a Medical Officer with the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, has announced.

He said six of the women were clients of the hospital and known to have received ante-natal care, while the rest were referral cases.

Dr Osei-Owusu added that many of the referral cases came in late, with 14 of them spending less than 24 hours at the facility before dying.

He said a look at the data showed that the majority of the mothers lost, were aged between 35 to 39 years; six of them were between the ages of 25 to 29; and five 30 to 34 years.

Dr Osei-Owusu made this known at the 2021 performance review meeting held by the Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate.

He identified some of the factors contributing to maternal deaths as preeclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnancy), haemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism, and cardiac failure.

He advised pregnant women to report to the hospital early with any health issues for early diagnosis and treatment.

He also reminded the private facilities not to wait until things worsened before bringing them to the referral hospital.

Dr Sally Quartey, Metropolitan Director of Health Services, asked that efforts at preventing and managing the COVID-19 pandemic should not lead to the neglect of the other health challenges.

It was for this reason that “Building a resilient health delivery system in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic through, continuity of essential services, effective response to infectious disease outbreaks, and good governance” has been chosen by the regional health directorate as their theme for this year.