Asamankese (E/R), Dec 2, GNA - Dr Anthony Normeshie,

Executive Director of Health For All Herbal Clinic at Oworam near

Asamankese in the Eastern Region, has said that hypertension was now

the leading cause of maternal death in the country. At a press briefing at Owora, Dr Normeshie said hypertension had

now overtaken haemorrhage as the leading cause of maternal mortality

in Ghanaian cities. "Changing behavioural and lifestyle characteristics of women,

especially pregnant women in the cities, have attributed to this," he

stressed. Dr Normeshie said there were three types of high-blood pressure in

pregnant women, one of which was chronic hypertension where high-

blood pressure developed before the twentieth week of pregnancy or

was present before the woman became pregnant. He said the second category was gestation hypertension where

some women just got high blood pressure near the end of the

pregnancy period, while the third was pregnancy-induced hypertension

(PIH) which condition could cause serious problems for both the

mother and the baby if left untreated. The Executive Director said all hands needed to be on deck to

achieve the Millennium Development Goal five (MDG 5) of reducing

maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015. 02 Dec 10