The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate is strengthening clinical mentorship and introducing a virtual labour ward as part of efforts to reduce maternal deaths in the region.

The virtual labour wardroom aims to connect frontline healthcare workers with remote medical specialists during complex or high-risk childbirths.

The move follows data showing that 92 per cent of maternal deaths recorded at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in 2025 involved referrals from peripheral health facilities, with only eight per cent originating from the hospital.

The Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Fred Adomako-Boateng, presenting these figures at the KATH 2026 Mid-Year Performance Review Conference in Kumasi, raised concerns over the quality of care and referral systems at facilities that transferred complicated maternal cases to the teaching hospital.

Data suggested that efforts to reduce maternal deaths must extend beyond KATH and focus on strengthening care at the point of referral.

The data showed that Ghana recorded 235 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2025, while the Ashanti Region recorded 196 deaths per 100,000 live births.

This means that the region accounts for about one in every four maternal deaths recorded nationally.

Dr Adomako-Boateng, however, said the Ashanti Region had recorded an improvement in maternal mortality figures this year despite the worsening national trend.

“For the half year, if you compare the whole country to what we have presently, the figures have increased, but Ashanti, which was leading, has reduced.

A further breakdown showed that 15 percent of maternal deaths recorded in the Ashanti Region involved women referred from outside the region, while 85 per cent were from within the region.

Out of the total deaths recorded, 62 per cent occurred at KATH, with the remaining 38 per cent occurring at other facilities across the region”, he explained.

In addressing these challenges, Dr Adomako-Boateng mentioned that the Regional Health Directorate, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was teaming up with KATH to strengthen the capacity of peripheral health facilities through clinical mentorship to improve quality of maternal care and reduce avoidable referrals to the teaching hospital.

Specialists at KATH who helped develop relevant clinical guidelines would mentor health professionals at district hospitals, private facilities and Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) facilities.