Woman abandons newborn at hospital, ‘absconds’ from community

A 22-year-old mother, Deborah Appiah a.k.a Yaa Duah on Friday, April 21, 2023, abandoned her day-old baby girl at the St. Francis Hospital in the Assin Fosu Municipality of the Central Region.

The mother of four is said to have delivered at Assin Fosu Polinic, but the nurses noticed the newborn baby had an umbilical mass which was covered by a peritoneal sac and thus referred her to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), at St. Francis Hospital on account of Omphalocele.

The mother realizing the condition of the baby inexplicably absconded and abandoned the baby.

Angel News Reporter, Kwame Owusu Asante Shadrack, speaking to the doctor of the facility, Agbematu Emmanuel, explained that the baby will need surgical intervention to survive since the overlying peritoneum is infected and discharging offensive serious fluids.

Additionally, the management of the St. Francis Hospital has arranged for the referral of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for the surgery since the baby’s condition is deteriorating.

The cost of the surgery is approximately GH¢3,000.00 but the baby is still in custody due to financial constraints of the family.

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Also, the in charge of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Ms. Vivian Kodia said they informed the police about it and a tip-off led to the arrest of the mother Assin Dompim after four days.

However, considering the condition of the newborn baby and the economic situation of the mother, Yaa Dua, the police granted her bail upon the doctor’s advice but was charged with abandoning the baby and exposing it to harm.

The woman, explaining her actions said, she never intended to disappear and abandon the baby but was rather searching for money for the child’s surgery until the police arrested her.

The single mother of four children and currently unemployed, therefore, appealed to the general public to support her raise the money for the surgery in order to save the baby’s life.

According to her, her biological mother died 10 years ago.

For her father, she has not had a glimpse of him before and now lives with her aged grandfather.