Ghana has taken another decisive step toward reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths as 28 healthcare professionals from five regions completed a rigorous week-long Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) training in Tamale. The initiative forms part of a broader national effort to strengthen frontline response to life-threatening complications in pregnancy and childbirth.
The programme, implemented through Oxfam in Ghana’s seven-year Power to Choose (P2C) Project and funded by Global Affairs Canada, seeks to equip health workers with the advanced skills necessary to handle emergencies that continue to claim the lives of women and newborns across the country.
The training covered critical EmONC signal functions such as Assisted Vaginal Delivery, Post-Partum Haemorrhage control, Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy, Sepsis Management, and Neonatal Resuscitation — some of the leading causes of maternal and neonatal mortality in Ghana.
Beyond clinical skills, participants were also oriented on a Human Rights-Based Approach to care, emphasising respectful, non-judgmental service delivery for adolescent girls and young women, who often face stigma and barriers when seeking sexual and reproductive health services.
Experts from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Ghana (SOGOG), the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), the Paediatrics Society of Ghana, and Oxfam facilitated the sessions.
According to Madam Fauziatu Abdul-Rahman, Country Coordinator for the P2C Project, the ultimate goal is to improve equitable access to quality SRH services for girls and young women aged 10–24, particularly those in underserved communities. She noted that over 80 health workers have already been trained since 2024, leading to improved respectful maternity care and better clinical outcomes.
Dr Naa Baake Armah, Senior Specialist at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said the training is strategically designed to strengthen facility-level readiness, ensuring health teams can swiftly respond to complications that “continue to kill women and newborns unnecessarily.”
She stressed that sustained improvements will require stronger resourcing of all levels of care—from CHPS compounds to regional hospitals—to ensure emergencies are handled without delay.
For many participants, the training marked a turning point. Senior midwife Bridgette Agbosege, now a facilitator after her own earlier training, said the cascading model is already raising standards across P2C-supported facilities. Others, like midwife Joyce Ramatu Karimu from Ashaiman Municipal Hospital, described the hands-on practice as “confidence-boosting” and critical to improving outcomes in their facilities.
The initiative directly supports Component Two of the P2C Project, which focuses on better healthcare delivery for girls and young women, but its impact extends much further—strengthening Ghana’s overall capacity to save mothers and newborns and contributing to national goals of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality.
