Child mortality rate reduces at Achimota Hospital
Dr Mildred Kumassah, the Medical Superintendent of the Achimota Hospital on Monday revealed that child mortality rate at the facility has reduced since the introduction of the Pregnancy School in 2017.
Dr Kumassah said the Pregnancy School has contributed to the reduction of child mortality rate especially relating to jaundice in babies.
She said statistics indicates that in 2016, 400 cases of jaundice were recorded in children; in 2017 the number reduced to 212 cases and further declined in 2018 to 160 cases.
The Achimota Medical Superintendent ascribing the success to the introduction of the Pregnancy School, which started in 2017.
Dr Kumassah made the comment in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the 2019 Achimota Hospital Pregnancy School graduation ceremony.
The graduation was organised for pregnant women who had undergo a nine-month period of teaching and guiding on managing themselves from pregnancy through neonatal stages.
In all, hundred pregnant who had successfully gone through the school and safely delivered were awarded with certificate for completing various levels in the informal education on pregnancy management, adding up to 150 women already trained last year.
Dr Kumassah also commended the Forestry Commission donating items including a table-top fridge, ten blood pressure monitors, and six fetal monitors to support the management of the ward.
She said the items would be put to effective and efficient use to derive maximum benefit from them, calling on the government and the Member of Parliament to construct the road leading to the hospital, which had been in a deplorable state over many years.
Mr Fuseini Issah, the Member of Parliament for Okaikwei North urged the women to adhere to the good practices they had been taught to ensure that their babies grow into healthy adults and become productive to the country.
He said the education of the babies should be among the priorities set out for their upbringing towards producing responsible adults and citizens.
He said the construction of the road had been on his agenda and that all efforts have been put in place to ensure that the roads within the hospital area would be constructed.
Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Forestry Commission, popularly known as Sir John urged parents to plant trees to support the afforestation agenda of government.
He said parents should adopt the planting of a tree to celebrate and welcome the new born baby into the family so it becomes a monument for the child when he or she grows.
He said it was necessary for all citizens to adopt the habit of planting trees and nurturing them to grown in line with restoring the natural environment.
Mr Owusu Afriyie said the government was committed to planting more trees, in addition to the 10,000 trees planted last year.
He said the Commission would this year plant 10,000 more trees, adding that, the commission would keenly monitor the growth and sustainability of the trees through a well-thought out on-the-ground monitoring strategy.
He urged all the midwives and nurses at the hospital to adopt the planting of trees in their homes to assist in keeping the country filled with trees and help keep the natural environment.
Mr Afriyie commended the management and staff of the Achimota Hospital for ensuring that no mother died in the cause of delivery at the facility in 2018 and urged them to continuously deliver their best to help develop the nation.
Source: GNA