Source: All Africa
Madam Salamatu Ibrahim, Nkoranza South District Director of Health Services, has called on husbands to ensure medical care for their pregnant spouses.
She advised pregnant women to attend ante-natal and post-natal care after they have given birth, to prevent them and their babies from diseases.
Madam Ibrahim was addressing more than 40 Mother and Child Support Advocates at a forum at Nkoranza, which was held to discuss problems that pregnant women.
She said: "If husbands show compassion for their pregnant wives by accompanying them to the clinics, the wives would appreciate it and contribute to the development of marriage".
Madam Ibrahim advised pregnant women to attend hospital instead of relying on herbal medicine alone, to avoid complications.
She said that in 2009, a total of 2,515 supervised deliveries were recorded at health facilities in the district, and 2,602 deliveries last year.
Madam Ibrahim said that the District recorded five maternal deaths in 2009 and six deaths in 2010 and asked stakeholders to help in educating pregnant women on the importance of ante-natal and post-natal clinics.
She advised Traditional Birth Attendants to refer cases beyond their competence to the hospital to prevent maternal and infant deaths.
Madam Ibrahim called on Community Mother and Child Support Advocates to patronize the Ambulance Transport Services wing at Saint Theresa's Hospital at Nkoranza whenever there were complicated delivery cases for immediate attention.
The participants said poverty and poor road network were some of the challenges facing pregnant women, and observed that some pregnant women did not have money to enable them to travel to health centres.
They also observed that teenage mothers refused to go to hospital for fear of being ridiculed, and some hospital staff and nurses frown and shout at patients.
Madam Ibrahim called on the Ministry of Health to intensify its supervision of health workers and nurses and "weed out the bad nuts from the profession." - GNA