The Abuya Foundation has constructed and handed over an ultra-modern maternity ward to the Nakpayili community in the Nanumba South district of the Northern Region.
The people of Nanung, particularly women, in the farming community of Nakpayili, have been relieved as the maternity ward is the only health facility in the Nakpayili community to support expectant mothers during pregnancy and labour.
Before the construction of the maternity ward, expectant mothers in the community used to travel to Wulensi, and Bimbila to access pregnancy and delivery services while other women relied heavily on traditional herbal products for maintenance of pregnancy cases and delivery, therefore, troubling many expectant mothers in the area.
Women in the Nakpayili community and its surroundings would have the opportunity to regularly visit the facility to access quality healthcare during pregnancy and labour as well as move to the facility to get assistance during childbirth from a skilled birth attendant.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Abuya Group, Alhaji Aminu Iddrisu, at the commissioning of the facility, said he was very familiar with the challenges facing the communities in Nanung, particularly in Nakpayili and therefore would always work with stakeholders to address them without any hesitation.
He indicated that the facility aims to improve accessibility to skilled care, and thus reduce morbidity and mortality for mothers and neonates, should complications arise.
The midwife at the facility Madam Jennifer Akutto, explained that the impact the maternity ward would make in the beneficiary communities would be huge considering the equipment accompanying the maternity ward.
She disclosed that at least, more than thirty communities in the area would benefit directly and indirectly from the services of the facility.
The Nurse in charge of the health facility, Evans Kipoo, could not hold back his joy following the commissioning of the equipment.
He emphasized the positive role the maternity block would play in changing the narrative of the health needs of residents in the community.
National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who was one of the dignitaries who graced the occasion, commended the CEO of Abuya Group for using the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of his companies to touch lives and to offer social services to helpless communitie.
“We politicians are all fighting for development and so if there is a non-politician who is a citizen and he is also engaged in the development, it means that at that point our interests coincide and so we must assist each other in this endeavor and that is why we are here. You heard about the story of Alhaji Abuya, beginning with the construction of a school for his community, then followed to construction of a Mosque, and today he has completed a maternity ward, which signifies the beginning of life. So all the three key projects are projects that have been carefully selected and I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart”.
The chances of women dying because of complications of pregnancy and childbirth are still high in many parts of Ghana and around the world.
The main direct causes of maternal and perinatal deaths are unsafe abortion, eclampsia, hemorrhage, obstructed labour, infections, and sepsis.
Most of these deaths can be prevented with early identification and treatment of complications. But, it would depend on the capacity and availability of capable hands and machines at the facility.
BY Eric Kombat, Nakpayili