The Ashanti Region (A/R) has seen a nearly fifty percent (50%) rise in maternal deaths in the first half of 2025.

The region has recorded about 74 increase in maternal death, with two hundred and thirty-two (232) cases per 100,000 live births in the first half of 2025, thus a 47% hike from 158 during the same period last year.

This marks the highest in the last three years, with a record of 144 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the first half of 2023 and 50 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024.

“If you look at the statistics, in the 2023 half-year, we had 144 mothers dying from 100,000 live births. In 2024, we had 150 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. And then the year under review is 232 per 100,000 live births,” the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Fred Adomako-Boateng, revealed.

This appreciation in numbers was officially announced by the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services at the 2025 Half-Year Performance Review Meeting of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), held in Kumasi under the theme ‘Strengthening Primary Health Care Through Networks of Practice Towards Universal Health Coverage: The Role of Stakeholders’.

He attributed the spike in deaths to poorly coordinated referrals and a lack of capacity at the peripheral levels. Clarifying the perception of high maternal deaths at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital is misleading. According to him, most of these cases are referrals from other facilities that lacked the capacity to manage them effectively. He explained that cases handled primarily at Komfo Anokye itself rarely result in maternal deaths, highlighting the need to strengthen the peripheral health facilities to manage cases appropriately to mitigate the death rates.

“So the question is, if we can really build capacity at the peripheral areas where we can manage cases so they don't need to refer to Komfo, then it means that all these deaths can be reduced.

“When we analysed, we saw that most of the deaths recorded at Komfo were referrals from other facilities.

I'm happy we had our friends from Komfo. We have sat down and analysed the data thoroughly and even identified the causes of these deaths. If you look at the data right now, you will see that if you take out-of-it, you see public facilities, private facilities, and CHAG facilities recording something like 64 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

“Straight away, people say, are we achieving the SDG target, which is 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births? And then you look at Komfo’s figure, because the denominator is small — they'll be recording over a thousand maternal deaths per 100,000. People assume that deaths are happening at Komfo, but it's not that,” he cleared the air.

As part of efforts to fight these spiking mortality rates among mothers, Dr Adomako-Boateng detailed that immediate steps are being adopted. Peripherals, particularly those that often record the most maternal cases, will be given consultants and specialists who will mentor them on how to handle certain cases and direct them to the best and readily available referral facility.

“ What we are going to do together with Komfo is what we call clinical mentorship. We are looking at the high-volume delivery facilities, and we are going to map them together with consultants and specialists at Komfo. We have already zoned the region, and they will be giving them the support to build their capacity so that they will be able to handle some of the cases.

“And not only that — when they have been able to build such capacities and they know that somebody is going to refer a case from one of the hinterlands, they can advise: ‘No, don’t bring this case; send it to another area because the capacity is there,’ knowing that all capacities are not the same. So that's the clinical mentorship and vertical mentorship that we are going to pursue aggressively”.

He called on all stakeholders to look beyond the numbers, the statistics and recognise the impact of these deaths on the affected families and the need to treat every case, whether one or two, and the need to take swift steps to resolve the menace.

“Normally, people hide behind statistics and talk about whether it's significant or not. One mother losing her life is worrying because you just see it as a number. It's more than a number. Behind the number, do you know the families they are taking care of? And so, when it comes to issues of maternal mortality, infant mortality, and neonatal mortality, it's something that we don't joke with at all,” he continued.

Maternal mortality remains one of the most pressing public health challenges in Africa. As of 2023, the continent records an average of 442 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, a significant improvement from 727 per 100,000 in the year 2000. However, this progress is far from sufficient. Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths, with an estimated 182,000 women dying each year due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. These deaths are often caused by preventable conditions such as hemorrhage, hypertension, infections, unsafe abortions, and obstructed labor.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1 sets a clear global target: to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by the year 2030. The World Health Organisation (WHO) supports this target and emphasises the need for universal access to quality maternal healthcare. Unfortunately, Africa’s current trajectory suggests that the continent may reach an MMR of around 350 per 100,000 live births by 2030, which is five times higher than the global target.

One of the major obstacles is the slow pace of progress. Between 2000 and 2023, Africa achieved only a 2.2% annual reduction in maternal deaths. To meet the 2030 goal, this rate would need to increase twelvefold. The situation is even more dire in countries affected by conflict or fragility, which account for 61% of global maternal deaths, despite representing just 25% of global births. These regions face severe healthcare access gaps, making timely and quality care difficult to obtain.