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Stakeholders in health in the Bawku Municipality have stepped up efforts to improve the state of maternal health in the area. Records from the Maternal Health Department of the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital indicated that in 2016, eleven maternal deaths were recorded while 14 were recorded in 2017.
The stakeholders include the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central Constituency, the Municipal Assembly and other development partners.Mr Fred Effa-Yeboah, the General Manager of the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bawku, said the Hospital had established a Maternal Health Department and resourced it with specialists including a Gynaecologist and Obstetricians to improve on healthcare delivery.
He said his outfit had created strong links with peripheral institutions that referred cases to the Hospital to enable them to reach each other whenever the need arose. Mr Effa-Yeboah said the Hospital in collaboration with development partners such as UNICEF, SEND-Ghana, Christian Aid and the Friends of Bawku Foundation in Holland was constructing a labour ward, renovating the maternity block and an Obstetric theatre at the cost of Ghc600,000 to expand the Maternal Health Department.
He said Send-Ghana and Christian Aid had sponsored the training of 16 midwives to resolve the acute shortage of midwives in the area. As part of efforts to improve on maternal health in the area, the two organisations has equipped the Maternal Health Department with Delivery Beds, and Ultra Sound Scan machines and Sanitizers, among others for smooth running of the Gynaecology Unit of the Hospital.
He said Drugs and Consumable Units within the maternity block to enable regular supply of drugs to the unit were also in the offing.The Municipal Assembly and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Mahama Ayariga have provided an ambulance to help improve healthcare delivery in the Municipality.
Madam Rhoda Damata Bugri, Acting Principal of the Bawku Presbyterian Nursing Training College, said as part of efforts to addressing the shortage of midwives in the Region, the Hospital and the Presbyterian Health Services were collaborating with the Ministry of Health, the Nurses and Midwives Council, and the National Accreditation Board to introduce the midwifery training programme to the College.
