Bright Appiah
A child-centered organisation, Child Rights International (CRI), has expressed as shocking and unacceptable a recent data from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) that indicates that 50,000 infants lose their lives every year due to birth asphyxia.
The organisation has, therefore, called for a probe to be carried out to identify the underlying and related causes for this incidence in order to inform policy decisions and actions in this regard.
In a statement issued and signed by its Executive Director, Bright Appiah, CRI also stressed the need for Parliament to initiate the formulation and passing of a bill to investigate the way and manner in which Ghanaian babies are handled at birth.
This, the organisation said, would go a long way for any possible malpractice to be fished out while health personnel including doctors, nurses, and midwives found to play any role in this reoccurring deaths would be held accountable.
“This process can also be initiated by a Member of Parliament in the way of a private member bill,” the statement said.
Birth Asphyxia
Birth asphyxia happens when a baby’s brain and other organs do not get enough oxygen and nutrients before, during or right after birth.
It could happen before birth in the womb or during prolonged labour, and result in stillbirths.
According to the Programme Manager for Newborn and Child Health of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Edward Antwi, who disclosed the figures, on the average, one million babies are born every year, and with the current neonatal mortality rate of 17 per 1,000 live births, it means for every one million births, about 170,000 are dying, and out of this, 30 per cent are dying from birth asphyxia.
Per the figures, about 136 children die on daily basis, a situation CRI said cast a dent on the country’s healthcare system and puts Ghana’s health sector on a bad limelight.
“This figure from GHS represents 30% of all neonatal mortality in the country. Essentially, every 24 months 100,000 babies in this country lose their lives. This heartbreaking revelation demands urgent attention and decisive action from both the government and relevant stakeholders,” the statement said.
Coordinated Efforts
In line with the Right to Information Act, 2019 (ACT 989), CRI said the Ghana Health Service must make available in the public domain data relating to regions, districts, hospitals or health facilities that record the highest number of these occurrences and the identified cause for such deaths to help in the initiation of a country-wide dialogue and steps that must be taken to curb this issue.
“Government must with immediacy initiate a National Policy on the Standard of Care expected at all health facilities that provide child delivery services.
“This Standard of Care (SoC) policy must outline specific expectations of all stakeholders, both mothers and health personnel and clearly outline sanctions that will be taken if in the absence of confirmation to this SoC babies life is lost,” the statement said.
Per CRI’s statement, the government must also initiate a national policy plan that provides mandatory free psychological services to families that lose their babies at birth at all health facilities that provide delivery services.
“It is truly heartbreaking to imagine that every year 50,000 families across this country have to deal with the loss of their baby, miss the opportunity to hear their children, laugh and grow and see them become the adults they dreamt they would be. The psychological ramifications alone cannot be fully grasped and the impact on society undeniable,” it said.
The statement also called on the government to issue a policy statement that makes it compulsory for all pregnant women to record their pregnancies at a recognised health facility in order to aid in diagnosing and implementing preventative measures or providing emergency services if asphyxia is detected in a pregnancy.
“As a child centered organisation, our first priority is to call on government, policy makers and all relevant stakeholders to direct all efforts and resources necessary in ensuring that this statistic is greatly reduced in line with SDG Goal Three,” it added.
Currently, neonatal mortality rate in the country stands at 17 deaths per 1,000 live births, putting the country behind the targeted goal of 12 deaths per 1,000 live births.