The New Juaben Municipality recorded a total of 30 maternal deaths during the first half of the year, a development, the Municipal Health Director, Dr. Kwaku Senaya, has described as disturbing.

Twenty-one (21) such deaths were seen in the municipality during same period, last year.

Speaking at a Town Hall meeting in Koforidua, Dr. Senaya, highlighted the need for pregnant women to regularly attend antenatal clinic and said this was for their own safety and that of their babies.

It would allow for early detection of any complications and proper management by the health professionals.

He announced that the health directorate had taken steps to register all pregnant women in the area through the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds to enable the health workers to visit them in their homes.

Dr. Senaya raised concern about the situation, where some of them resorted to unsafe abortion methods – the use of herbs and other dangerous concoctions, and said, that could be fatal.

He encouraged them to patronize the hospitals and clinics for comprehensive abortion care, adding that, they should stop risking their lives.

Dr. Senaya said nobody should be shy of going to the facilities to request for abortion service.

He hinted of the intensification of family planning education, as part of the drive to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the associated risks.

The meeting had been organized by the Municipal Assembly to put a spotlight on development projects and programmes it had been carrying out to transform the living conditions.