Most pregnant women in the East Akyem Municipality of the Eastern region appear to be choosing galamsey over the health of their unborn babies.

The women prefer engaging in illegal mining to attending antenatal care.

Health officials in the municipality fear this practice could derail efforts being made to reduce infant and maternal mortality.

The East Akyem Municipal Health Director Edmund Kaitoo told Starr News the conduct of the women is making it difficult for the district to meet its antenatal targets.

“We were not able to meet our target for 2014, our coverage was just about 60 percent and we want to get to 80 percent.

“We attribute this to the galamsey activities. Most of the time, we find the women going to do galamsey instead of going to the hospital and they use it as grounds for getting something for their pockets,” he stated.