The Times reports that Fifty-two mothers who were operated upon at the Maternity Department of the Korle- bu Teaching Hospital in Accra during delivery last year, absconded because they could not pay their medical bills.

Nana Gladys Kusi-Yeboah, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of Maternity, who disclosed these to the Times expressed concern about the situation saying: "anything at all could happen to them and their babies since they would not have the proper medication and treatment for their respective ailments".

According to her, some of the patients concealed their babies in bags to outwit the nurses, while others had theirs taken away by relatives who wrapped and hid the babies under the clothes. "This practice could easily lead to suffocation and injuries due to improper handling"

Giving statistics on deliveries, Madam Kusi-Yeboah said that the department recorded a total of 12,519 successful deliveries last year as against 10,851 in 1999.

Out of the number, 7,548 babies were delivered through Spontaneous Vaginal delivery while 247 were through vacuum extraction.