Midwife in charge of the Neonatal Unit at the Eastern Regional Hospital, Joana Yorke Amoah has expressed worry over rising cases of men abandoning new mothers and babies at the hospital whenever medical bills are given to them after delivery.

She said the situation has led to many new mothers stranded at the hospital unable to pay their medical bills, and even buy basic baby essentials.

She emphasized that, this financial stress makes management of postpartum depression more difficult, hence midwives at the hospital mostly contribute to support such new mothers in dire need.

Joana Yorke Amoah however hastened to add that management of the hospital through the Department of Social Welfare also intervene in such situations to ensure stranded mothers are released under terms and condition to prevent continuous detention.

“When it comes to the financial aspect their husbands don’t show up. They [men] just come and dump them here and then they leave them. We take their numbers and call them but they don’t respond to us. Sometimes we feed them. The hospital too doesn’t have enough to support them so we are telling them that as soon as they know that they’re going to deliver they should prepare so that they won’t face some of these challenges,” she said.

The worried midwife continued that, some men have perception that child delivery is free especially when their National Health Insurance card is active.

“So far as they say insurance they think that when they come they won’t pay anything so they come just like that”.

“Some of them have insurance. It is just a few who don’t have and sometimes too they are not well prepared when you ask, the money that they are having is not enough .They cannot foot the bills so sometimes we encourage them to deposit what they have then we later call the family members to come and pay the rest for them. We also refer them to the social welfare who come to their aid not just paying for them but they contact their family members to support ” the Midwife said this when MTN Ghana as part of its annual Yello Care initiative delivered expensive hampers targetted at babies born on Christmas day at major hospitals across the country.

Nine new babies were delivered at the Eastern Regional Hospital on December 25, 2022 out of which six (6) were through a Cesarean Section .

The Yello Care team went to Koforidua SDA Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital and continue the distribution of hampers to the new mothers and babies born on Christmas day.

Mohammed Haruna Yamba in charge of mobile money in the Eastern region said a total of 25 hampers consisting of baby essentials were donated in Eastern region but in terms of nationwide, 500 hampers distributed in 40 hospitals.

He urged the new mothers to take good care of the babies and take their education seriously to end quagmire of poverty in the society.