Young Woman Delivers In Front Of The Maternity Block Of The Agona Nkwanta Health Facility; What my pen wrote.

A woman delivering on a lawn.

So it was on the eve of Monday, 10th February, 14', when someone we all call Buju, a popular person in Agona Nkwanta, called my cell to narrate this horrific incidence to me. Instantly, I was shocked! I said to myself; “so if it had been my sweet Abigail, what would I do to the authorities at the Agona Nkwanta Clinic?” Like the old cliche, your guess is as good as mine.

Buju, a popular youth activist in the Ahanta West District, narrated the story of a young woman in labour who had to deliver under the trees in front of the maternity block because they could not get access to the Maternity Block at the Agona Nkwanta Clinic. 

The worse of it is that there was no midwife available, and therefore had to be assisted to deliver by Buju and some other colleagues who rushed to the place after hearing the woman and her family cry for help.

Whilst, Buju was telling me the story on the phone, I quickly planned what to do. Skyy Power FM came to mind. Yes! This story will be good for Skyy. They will love it! So quickly, I asked Buju to narrate the story as the eye witness so that I can go ahead and do the story.

After him, I requested to speak to one of the midwives; because one of the tenets of this profession is to mostly present a balanced story. His response was positive; “yes, let me try and see if they will speak to you” he said.

Luckily, the Maternity-In-Charge, Madam Helena, who bears the same name as my mother, agreed to speak with me. Before she agreed to speak, I could hear Buju on the other side of the telephone saying “my brother wants to speak to you. He works with ATL FM”. So clearly, this brave woman was ready to help the clinic get the story across the media to help get assistance to fix many of its challenges. 

So she agreed, and spoke to me at length on that issue, extending it to why that incidence even happened in the first place, and finding out they had several challenges, I asked her to tell me the challenges they faced at the clinic. Having told me a lot, I decided to get behind the computer and for once, let my community benefit from the Journalist I am.  So I finish the story around and email it to Christian Baidoo of Skyy news around 1am, and BOOM, it’s on air in the next few hours. I was indeed grateful that my time was not just wasted, as well as that of Buju and the midwife; Sweet Mama Helena.   

The Story

Some residents of Agona Nkwanta in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region have expressed their displeasure over what they refer to as ‘neglect of the Agona Nkwanta health facility’ by the District Directorate.

According to them, the Clinic has not seen any development in a long while. This, they have cited as one of the reasons why the clinic is not able to serve the residents well.

On Sunday, one young lady delivered under the trees in front of the Clinic’s Maternity Block because of lack of adequate midwives to attend to pregnant women who are due to deliver.

According to eye witnesses, the lady had to go through a great ordeal before being helped to deliver by lay people.

One of them, who gave his name only as Buju, recounted the incidence to us.

“On Sunday evening while I conversed with my brothers, we heard a woman wail in pain. We rushed over in the direction of the sound only to see a young woman in labour. She had been in labour for three hours without being attended to by any midwife. The doors to the clinic had also been closed. We then helped her to deliver. An hour after delivery, there was still no midwife in sight to take care of the newly born baby and the mother. A midwife who was not on duty arrived from a journey and she promptly went to the aid of the mother and the baby. The situation here is bad. The District Health Director has neglected this facility since he is building his own clinic.”

Speaking to ATL FM News, Midwife Helena, the Maternity-In-Charge at the Agona Nkwanta Clinic, who happened to be the midwife who came to the rescue when help was needed on Sunday, explained that the midwives posted to the clinic are very few. She went on to say that at the time of the incidence, unfortunately, there was no midwife and the doors had been closed.

“I was away in Takoradi for a funeral. Immediately I arrived, I heard a woman wail ‘my sister has delivered, my sister has delivered’! I rushed over to see a lady who had delivered with the umbilical cord still attached. I quickly run to the house of the midwife on duty only to meet her absence. The relatives of the young mother bought a razor and a polythene bag and without gloves I undertook the procedure of cutting and tying the umbilical cord.”

She recounted the challenges that the clinic faces.

“The midwives stationed in the clinic are inadequate while several calls to increase the number, has proved futile. Also, the midwives have had to sometimes deliver mothers of their babies using a torch light and candles when there is blackout since there is no plant available,” she said.

The Midwife says she has since contracted hypertension and diabetes due to the pressure from work.

By Samuel Kojo Brace

ATL FM, Cape Coast.

Chief Servant,

Ahanta News360.