Despite Ghana’s free maternal health policy, several vulnerable mothers remain detained in hospital wards after childbirth for being unable to settle outstanding medical bills, reports say.

According to a report by citinewsroom.com, some health personnel have lamented the situation, narrating how they are sometimes forced to contribute to clear the medical bills on behalf of such patients.

“The patients, mostly from rural communities, are unable to settle their bills. Sometimes we, medical staff, have to step in to support or mobilise funds from benevolent people to settle their bills,” a midwife at the Gomoa Oguaa Clinic, Kemor Mathilda, said.

The government’s free maternal health initiative is designed to ease the financial burden of childbirth, but critical gaps remain. Complications and basic necessities often fall outside its coverage, leaving many mothers in distress.

To bridge the gap, some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) occasionally step in.

One of them, led by Selassie Doughan, recently donated to mothers at the Trauma and Specialist Hospital, Gomoa Oguaa Clinic, Gomoa Enyame, Gomoa Tarkwa, and Gomoa Ehyiam CHPS compounds. While commending the existing policy, Doughan stressed the need for urgent reforms.

“The policy is actually supporting mothers, but I am strongly convinced that it needs a review. It must cover every cost of labour and delivery. But while we wait on the government’s consideration of this suggestion, we’ll keep supporting mothers,” she said.

ID/AE

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