By Kingsley Mamore
Dambai (O/R), June 20, GNA – The Oti Regional Coordinating Council (ORCC), in collaboration with the Oti Regional Health Directorate and with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has organised a day’s training workshop to strengthen the capacity of selected midwives across the Oti Region.
The workshop, held in Dambai brought together midwives from health facilities in the Krachi East and Nkwanta South Municipalities, as well as the Nkwanta North District.
The training, dubbed, Basic Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (BEmONC), aimed at equipping frontline healthcare providers with the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively manage complications during childbirth and improve maternal and newborn health outcomes.
Facilitators said the programme was the first of its kind to be implemented in the Oti region.
Madam Veronica Kakah, a representative of the Oti Regional Health Directorate, said the workshop formed part of efforts to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity through continuous professional development of health workers.
“Our training is to build the capacity of midwives who are frontline service providers at health centres and CHPS compounds, particularly those involved in maternal and child health services, to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality,” she said.
Madam Kakah noted that improving maternal health outcomes required regular capacity-building interventions to enable healthcare providers to deliver quality and timely services.
“The goal of the workshop is to refresh knowledge and equip health providers with the skills needed to reduce maternal mortality to the barest minimum,” she added.
She urged participants to take the training seriously and apply the knowledge acquired in their respective facilities to help prevent avoidable maternal and neonatal deaths.
“Yes, some cases may be unavoidable, but those we can prevent, we must do our utmost best to avoid so that mothers and babies remain healthy and alive,” she stated.
Available data indicated that 965 women who sought institutional delivery services in 2025 did not survive to return to their families.
National maternal mortality data also recorded 868 deaths in 2024, representing an increase over the previous year, with about 70 per cent of the deaths occurring in approximately 11 health facilities across the country.
As part of the intervention, mentors and supervisors would be assigned to beneficiary facilities to provide continuous technical support and monitor the practical application of skills acquired during the training.
The initiative forms part of broader efforts by the government and development partners to strengthen maternal and newborn healthcare services and achieve sustained reductions in maternal and neonatal mortality across the country.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Lydia Kukua Asamoah