51 women die in child birth

Startling revelations from the Central Region indicate that 51 women have died in child birth since January this year and more are expected to die before the end of the year.The cause of the deaths, according to the Central Regional deputy director of Public Health, was due to the refusal of pregnant women to heed to counsel of medical officers at ante-natal clinics.
Dr. John Beertzon Eleeza described the development as alarming and therefore called on the general public to help fight the canker.
“We are still far away from safe motherhood and we still need to step up our game,” he advised.
The revelations came to light at the launch of Safe Motherhood Week at Moree in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District of the Central Region.
He therefore stressed the need for men and relatives of pregnant women to give the needed support to women in order to help them have safe deliveries.
“Let us support our women when they become pregnant even if it is teenage pregnancy; there is the need to show them love and support to enable them have safe deliveries,” he advised.
Dr. Eleeza further called for the need for men (husbands) to attend ante-natal with their wives to educate themselves about pregnancy and develop the skills to assist their wives, especially during labour, to reduce the risk of any complications that may occur.
He observed that his outfit saw the need to dedicate a week to talk about what disturbs the health of women and decided to use the week to do so with the aim of helping reduce maternal and child mortality.
In view of this, he said anti-natal services have been instated in all communities to make it accessible and affordable for pregnant women in helping reduce the canker.
He added that awareness creation has also been increased to reduce mortality rate and urged women to patronise the services to save themselves from mis-happenings.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of AAK, Mr. William Attah-Mends, charged husbands to treat their wives well when they get pregnant to enable them have a safe delivery.
He also encouraged women to take good care of themselves when they realise they are pregnant and go for family planning options to help them plan their families well and also help them live healthily.