Wickedness At Mamprobi Polyclinic

For Mr Francis Dogbe and his wife, the birth of their third child on Sunday 29th August 2010 was the worst nightmare they could ever imagine due to the sheer irresponsible and unprofessional conduct exhibited by nurses on duty at the Mamprobi Polyclinic on that faithful night.
The helpless woman was left to deliver in the arms of her husband who had accompanied her to the hospital whilst she was in labour. To their own disbelief and the shock of onlookers, the woman, who without professional help, could not walk the full distance between the main gate of the polyclinic to the corridor leading to the delivery ward, gave birth to a bouncing baby girl on the ground in the open yard within the premises of the polyclinic because for well over 30 minutes, the nurses on duty simply chose to ignore calls on them to assist the woman in labour to get to the labour/delivery ward.
The father of the baby told this paper in an interview at his house at Zambramaline in Accra that he was very shocked and traumatised by the incident but said “I thank God for seeing us though.”
Mr Dogbe said his baby was born in the sand in the open at exactly 10: 30 pm, thirty minutes after he arrived with his with the Mamprobi Polyclinic.
“At first, they were saying that if my wife cannot walk to the delivery ward herself, she should be there because the delivery ward is not outside but after she gave birth outside all by herself some of them came and apologised.” He said at that point, baby and mother were sent to the ward for dressing by the nurses.
A taxi driver, who was an eye witness, told The Catalyst that he and others were helpless since the situation was a sensitive one that obviously could only be handled by health professionals. He told this reporter that the carefree nurses only came out sluggishly after some angry onlookers charged on them and hurled insults at them, calling them witches and agents of the devil. This was after the baby fell on the ground.
“What if were went to carry her to the ward or help her to walk to the ward and something happened on the way, say the baby dropped? It is not the same nurses who would say we killed the baby? He asked.
When The Catalyst visited their home at Zambramaline in Accra, both mother and daughter appeared to be in good health.
The baby’s mother said she thank God for saving her life and the life of her baby. She however said she regretted going to the health facility considering the embarrassment she went through at the hands of the nurses. She said upon second thought, she felt she could have delivered her baby at home in an acceptable place rather than being subjected to the trauma of given birth in the open whilst men and women looked on.
The question is what would have happened if there were complications at the time of the delivery in the open by this woman whilst the nurses who were supposed to take care of her negligently remained in the delivery ward.
For those who doubt that unprofessional conduct of some of our health personnel is responsible for avoidable deaths, including maternal deaths, at various health facilities in the country, this is food for thought for them.
The argument that a little more professional care on the part of health personnel would help reduce Ghana’s high maternal motility rate cannot be understated.