Sunyani, Feb. 4, GNA - The Brong Ahafo Regional Health Directorate, recorded 68 cases of maternal death in 2010 as compared to 94 cases the previous year, Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, Deputy Regional Director of Ghana Health Service (GHS) said on Thursday.

He attributed the reduction in cases to a number of factors, including the training of midwives and the basic equipment provided by the High Impac= t Rapid Delivery programme, which aims at reducing child and maternal mortality nationwide for the training of health personnel. Dr Tinkorang who made this known in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani said the Ghana Private Road Transport Union was also collaborating with the health authorities by transporting pregnant women to health centres.

He said post partum haemorrhage (severe bleeding after birth), eclampsia, puerpural sepsis and unsafe abortion, were the causes of materna= l deaths. The Deputy Regional Director said the health service had put in place measures to minimise the deaths by the use of Misogrotal and Pneumonic (shock) garment to reduce bleeding in pregnant women. Sene, Atebubu and Pru Districts are areas that recorded most of the deaths.

Dr Tinkorang attributed the cause to lack of medical facilities and personnel in the communities and poor and inaccessible road network, which made it very difficult for pregnant women to access health care when they were in labour.

He said the GHS intend to set up clinics in all the rural areas in the region so that the people could access health care delivery. Dr Tinkorang advised pregnant women to visit ante-natal clinics regularly to guard against any pregnancy related complications, which could affect them and their unborn babies. He asked media practitioners to educate people on the causes of maternal deaths and charged health personnel to ensure that no pregnant woman died during labour.