Health personnel in the Northern Region have expressed concern about the increase in maternal mortality in the Northern Region this year and called for measures to address it. They appealed to the District Assemblies in the region to support in the training of service providers on maternal health as a means of controlling the problem. Madam Roseline Ayi Mahama, Nursing Officer in charge of Public Health in the Region who disclosed this in a media review meeting in Tamale said the problem had also contributed to the increase in stillbirth rate in the region. She said 66 women died through childbirth between January and June this year as against 37, the same period in 2006, adding that the situation was getting out of hand. The Tamale Teaching Hospital alone recorded 45 death cases while the others were recorded from the districts. Madam Mahama said there was the need to train more health official to fill positions in the 174 health facilities in the region to improve the situation. She said the Ghana Health Service in the region was taking measures to introduce Birth and Emergency Preparedness Unit for pregnant women as a way of minimising maternal deaths. Alhaji A.B. Yakubu, Northern Regional Health Promoter, appealed to the media to continue playing an advocacy role in ensuring that maternal health and infant mortality were addressed. He urged them to write constantly on issues that would impact positively on the lives of the people particularly pregnant women and children for the desired change.Source: GNA