![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TM034-Health-Pregnancy-Doctors-Pic-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA GNA Feature by\u00a0Opesika\u00a0Tetteh\u00a0Puplampu\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ada, Jan. 11, GNA \u2013 A\u00a0labouring\u00a0expectant mother\u2019s inability to access immediate medical care at the Ada East District Hospital has renewed public concern over healthcare delivery, emergency\u00a0preparedness\u00a0and the shortage of doctors in the district\u00a0<\/p>\n
The incident, which occurred on Sunday, December 14, 2025, has raised fresh questions about maternal health safety in the district and highlighted broader challenges confronting healthcare facilities in rural and peri-urban communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to family members and friends, the pregnant woman, who had been scheduled for a caesarean section, had travelled to\u00a0Tamatoku\u00a0in Ada to attend a funeral when she went into\u00a0labour\u00a0in the early hours of the morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was rushed to the Ada East District Hospital, where nurses and other staff\u00a0reportedly informed\u00a0her relatives that no medical doctor was available at the maternity unit at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those who\u00a0accompanied\u00a0her told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that health workers\u00a0advised them to\u00a0seek care elsewhere, explaining that the absence of a doctor made it impossible to manage the delivery safely at the facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With the woman in active\u00a0labour\u00a0and her condition worsening, the family\u00a0proceeded\u00a0to the\u00a0Kasseh\u00a0Health Centre. There, they were informed that the entire Ada East District had only one medical doctor on duty and that if the doctor\u00a0was\u00a0unavailable at the district hospital, access to medical attention at other public facilities would also be unlikely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Left with limited options and mounting anxiety, the family hired a taxi and transported the\u00a0expectant\u00a0mother to the\u00a0Sogakope\u00a0Comboni Hospital, where she received immediate care and later delivered safely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Similar Experiences Reported\u00a0<\/p>\n
The incident has generated widespread concern, following reports that it was not an isolated case.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Yeremiah Abraham, a pastor in the area, told the GNA that at least four pregnant women had, on separate occasions, been unable to access delivery services at the Ada East District Hospital under similar circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to him, the women had attended antenatal clinics at the hospital throughout their pregnancies but were not informed that delivery services could be disrupted due to the absence of a medical doctor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He questioned what might have happened if transport had not been readily available, warning that delays in accessing emergency obstetric care could result in preventable maternal or neonatal deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Health experts have long cautioned that delays in skilled care during\u00a0labour\u00a0remain a major contributor to maternal mortality, particularly in districts with limited medical personnel and logistical constraints.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Questions Over Healthcare Planning\u00a0<\/p>\n
The situation has prompted residents and observers to question healthcare planning and staffing arrangements in the district, especially following the retirement of a key medical officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Community members have raised concerns about whether adequate contingency measures were put in place to ensure continuity of critical services such as maternity care, which is time-sensitive and potentially life-threatening when delayed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hospital Management Responds\u00a0<\/p>\n
In response to the concerns,\u00a0Mr\u00a0Emmanuel\u00a0Odonkor, Acting Medical Superintendent of the Ada East District Hospital, provided clarification on the circumstances surrounding the incident and outlined steps being taken to address the challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an interview with the GNA,\u00a0Mr\u00a0Odonkor\u00a0acknowledged concerns about the absence of a doctor at the maternity unit on the stated date and on\u00a0previous\u00a0occasions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He explained that at the time of the incident, the only medical officer assigned to the maternity unit had been on prolonged continuous duty over several days and\u00a0was required\u00a0to take essential rest \u2014 a situation he admitted was distressing for expectant mothers and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Odonkor\u00a0clarified that a doctor was available at the medical emergency unit and could be called upon after\u00a0an initial\u00a0assessment by midwives. He noted that midwives at the facility were professionally trained to\u00a0identify\u00a0emergencies promptly and\u00a0initiate\u00a0appropriate interventions, including referrals or requests for\u00a0additional\u00a0medical support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He attributed the staffing challenges to the departure of two medical officers with surgical skills who left for further studies, as well as the retirement of the former medical superintendent, who had played\u00a0a central role\u00a0in surgical and maternity services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since July 2025, he said, only two medical officers had been covering the maternity unit, with one on part of his entitled leave during the period in question. Several attempts to secure locum doctors to temporarily fill the gap, he added, were unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Interim Measures Implemented\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Odonkor\u00a0said patient safety remained the hospital\u2019s top priority and outlined interim measures introduced to manage the situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the maternity unit continued to\u00a0operate\u00a0with midwives on a 24-hour basis, with a senior midwife present on every shift. When a doctor was unavailable, maternity in-charges within the district were\u00a0advised to refer\u00a0clients to sister facilities at\u00a0Battor\u00a0and\u00a0Sogakope, which were informed in advance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clients who\u00a0presented\u00a0at the hospital, he explained, were assessed promptly. Where delivery could be safely managed by midwives, care was provided, and where referral was\u00a0required, families were supported to ensure\u00a0timely\u00a0transfer. Drivers, he noted, were\u00a0advised to remain\u00a0on standby due to challenges with ambulance availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Odonkor\u00a0stressed that the phrase \u201cturning away patients\u201d could be misleading, as it suggested that no assessment or support was provided, which he said was not standard practice at the facility. However, he acknowledged the need for further review to\u00a0determine\u00a0whether any protocols were breached and to strengthen systems going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Steps Towards Improvement\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u00a0disclosed\u00a0that one medical officer had since reported to the facility and was undergoing assessment of his surgical competencies. In addition, a specialist obstetrician and\u00a0gynaecologist\u00a0had joined the hospital and was actively supporting efforts to close existing service gaps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Odonkor\u00a0reaffirmed the hospital\u2019s commitment to providing quality and comprehensive healthcare in a safe and patient-friendly environment and called for continued collaboration with stakeholders to address staffing challenges and improve service delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As public discussions continue, residents and health advocates say the incident underscores the urgent need for sustained investment in medical staffing,\u00a0logistics\u00a0and emergency response systems to ensure that no expectant mother is placed at risk due to avoidable gaps in care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
GNA\u00a0<\/p>\n
Edited by\u00a0Laudia\u00a0Anyorkor\u00a0Nunoo\/Audrey Dekalu\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A GNA Feature by\u00a0Opesika\u00a0Tetteh\u00a0Puplampu\u00a0\u00a0 Ada, Jan. 11, GNA \u2013 A\u00a0labouring\u00a0expectant mother\u2019s inability to access immediate medical care at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[79,909],"class_list":{"0":"post-17838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ghana","8":"tag-ghana","9":"tag-greater-accra-region"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}