Statistics on neonatal deaths worrying

The statistics are grim and startling.

Losing a baby at birth is bad enough, let alone losing about 50,000 babies to birth asphyxia which, unfortunately, occurs in Ghana every year.

Birth asphyxia happens when a baby's brain and other organs do not get enough oxygen and nutrients before, during or right after birth.

It could happen before birth in the womb and result in stillbirths or during prolonged labour.

Inadequate equipment and staff, late referrals and poor education on breastfeeding are some of the causes of asphyxia deaths in newborns.

In Ghana, on the average, one million babies are born every year, and with the current neonatal mortality rate of 17 per 1,000 live births, it means for every one million born, about 170,000 are dying, and out of this, 30 per cent are dying from birth asphyxia.

The Programme Manager for Newborn and Child Health of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Edward Antwi, who provided the statistics at a stakeholders’ workshop, explained that the figures could be more, given the fact that some of the cases that occurred in home deliveries and outside recognised health facilities might not have been captured in the data.

Stakeholders in neonatal care and child health are deliberating on reducing neonatal deaths, particularly asphyxia cases, across the country as part of efforts to reduce neonatal mortality.

The stakeholders are concerned and rightly so, because there is an urgent need to reduce the incidence of asphyxia, strengthen sick newborn care at referral district hospitals, support new asphyxiated babies to survive, among others.

The truth is that the exact figures may be more than the official figures being quoted by the GHS because even though we do not know the true extent, even with the conservative information we have, about 30 per cent of all babies in Ghana die from birth asphyxia.

The reason being that in many parts of the country, many women deliver at home, and are not counted.

The Daily Graphic believes that beyond showing concern, government, together with the stakeholders, must work assiduously to stop neonatal deaths.  

And this starts from adequately equipping the hospitals to effectively reduce neonatal mortality in general in the country.

It is a widely held view that a number of hospitals, especially the lower level facilities, do not have what it takes to take care of the mothers and the babies.

In fact, health experts maintain that the first hour of newborn is critical and that is why the level of commitment of health workers is crucial in such moments.

It is, therefore, important for health workers to be more committed to providing efficient and prompt health services.

Even though the reduction in neonatal deaths to 17 per 1,000 live births is significant, there is work to be done to achieve the targeted 12 per 1,000 live births, which constitutes about 75 per cent of infant mortality.

The nation's referral system is not in too good a shape.

We need an effective ambulance system with strong and efficient communication in the referral chain.

Our roads are bad and they often impact referrals.

Improving road networks is, also, critical to saving our new borns.

Indeed, life-saving equipment for new born resuscitation and oxygen equipment must be made available at the hospitals.

There is, also, the need for the health workers to be trained and retrained to effectively prevent asphyxia deaths.

The Daily Graphic, therefore, calls on the GHS to improve its supervision chain and ensure improved supervision in the health facilities in the provision of efficient and prompt health services which will go a long way to save lives.

The antenatal period through to the post natal period must be monitored critically to pick up potential cases.

Potential risk factors, such as anaemia and high blood pressure, must be identified early and treated.

No child should die from preventable causes and asphyxia deaths must not continue to claim 50,000 of our new borns annually.