Denu Youth demonstrates against death of baby and mother

Aflao (V/R), May 16, GNA - Placard- bearing youth from Denu on Friday paraded the streets of Aflao, in anger against the death of a woman and her newly -born baby at Ketu-South District Hospital at Aflao, in April this year.

The protestors numbering about 500 suspected negligence by the medical authorities leading to the death. They were clad in mourning cloth and divided into two groups- one from the Aflao Border and the other from Denu and finally converged around the hospital.

The police however prevented them from entering the hospital premises. Some of the placards read "GHS (Ghana Health Service) check Ketu-South Hospital," and "Nurses would Pay For the Death of Our Sister and Her Baby." The group led by Israel Tornyeviadzi, Acting Chairman of the Concerned Youth of Denu, labelled the facility as "baby and mother unfriendly" and demanded that the authorities should act to prevent the recurrence of what happened.

A previous petition addressed to the Ghana Medical and Dental Council demanding independent investigations was made available to the media at a briefing. There were no speeches or petition and no public official came out to address the demonstrators. Mr Simon Ackumey, husband of the deceased said his wife, Dzifa Agboforti, 28, reported at the facility at about 1000 hours on April 8 to deliver.

He said he noticed the nurses on duty were standoffish and therefore complained. Mr Ackumey said the following day, the nurses asked his wife to move to another bed despite her plea that she was about to deliver. He said when his wife got up and walked towards the bed, the baby dropped on the floor, compelling the nurses to rush to pick him and resuscitate him but he died two hours later. Mr Ackumey alleged that he reported the conduct of the nurses to Dr Kwesi Asare-Bediako, Medical Superintendent of the hospital. He said his action irritated the nurses, who showed it both in action and speech.

Mr Ackumey said his wife's condition deteriorated and on April 11, she was rushed to the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho, where she died shortly on arrival.

When contacted Dr Asare-Bediako said though the delivery on the floor was an abnormal issue, the nurses were not expecting the baby at that particular time because the dilation of the cervix had not advanced to the stage of delivery. He said that might have compelled the nurses to move the deceased to the "second stage" bed to give way for another expecting mother. Dr Asare-Bediako said the deceased was diagnosed of malaria and had high temperature after delivery. He said the woman's case worsened despite all efforts of remedy and had to be rushed to the tertiary hospital in Ho where she died. Dr Asare-Bediako said burial of the baby soon after death and the embalmment of the mother according to pathologist at the police hospital would make autopsy inconclusive. 16 May 10