Health professionals have tasked to document information that patients give them and to explain to them also medical procedures that they are likely to go through.

“The health workers must be confident in managing any maternal case that is brought to them, Dr Isaac O. Koranteng, a Consultant at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said at a two-day workshop on Pregnancy for doctors, nurses and midwives across the country.

It was organised by the Africa Partners Medical Ghana (APMG) to update their knowledge, skills and competency on how to deal with practical issues of women in labour to help reduce mortality rate. It was also to educating the participants on how to handle high risk pregnancy cases. “Pregnant women should ask their care providers questions whenever they visit the hospital and also attend antenatal care,” he added.

Ms Amerlay Ollennu, a Director at APMG, said most West African nations had no formal mechanisms to keep medical personnel in academic and private settings abreast with current trends. She said it is very necessary for care providers to record a patient in labour’s information on the partograph for easy check up.

According to her, when the process of child labour is slow, the patient becomes anxious and dehydrated, adding that if the poor progress is due to obstructed labour, the patient may develop a ruptured uterus, a vesicovaginal fistula or a rectovaginal fistula.

The two major causes of poor progress of labour are cephalopelvic disproportion and inadequate uterine action, however, she said, caesarean section and oxytocin infusion could be used for safe delivery. She said care providers should, therefore, listen attentively to their patients and also give them feedback.

“One reason for organizing the workshop was to help achieve the Millennium Development Goal 5 for 2015,” Ms Ollennu said. A recent report by the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group of the United Nations says the Maternal Mortality Rate in Ghana has declined by 49 percent between 1990 and 2013.

It says although it reduced from 760 in 1990 to 380 in 2013, there remains a substantial amount of effort to reach the Millennium Development Goal 5 target of 185 deaths per 100,000 live births. Maternal Mortality Rate is the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period.