Health Directorate initiates classes for pregnant women

The Wa Municipal Health Directorate has initiated pregnancy classes for women and their spouses to enlighten them on how to live healthy lives during pregnancy and to plan for safe deliveries.

The directorate has also declared zero tolerance for maternal deaths in every community in the municipality and appealed to men to get actively involved in matters related to women and children.

Madam Kunfah, Wa Municipal Health Director, announced this at a Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) stakeholders’ forum in Wa on Thursday as part of efforts to bring primary health care closer to the people.

She said should any death of a child or pregnant woman occur in the community, stakeholders such as the chief, landlord, assembly members and health staff working in that community would be held responsible.

She urged men to accompany their wives to the clinics and the pregnancy classes, adding that it was unacceptable for a woman to lose her life while trying to create life.

Madam Kunfah pleaded with assembly members and chiefs to work together for the survival of mothers and children and gave the assurance that her outfit would do its best to involve all stakeholders in its programmes to ensure quality health for all especially “our women and children”.

She said regular training of staff in life saving skills, motivating traditional birth attendants to bring all women in labour to health facilities and providing the telephone numbers of midwives and ambulance drivers to pregnant women were among some of the measures adopted to help improve maternal health.

She suggested that family planning should be covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme to make the services more accessible saying “Women are dying from unsafe abortions and every effort should be made to reduce this”.

The Week was on the theme: “Achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 through CHPS”. It was attended by health workers, traditional rulers, assembly members, safe motherhood groups as well as non-governmental organisations involved in the provision of health care services.

Source: GNA