It has emerged that most pregnant women prefer delivering at home to hospitals and other health facilities. Mrs Cecilia Lordonu Seno, local President of Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), said these women, ironically, have the perception that they are likely to die at approved health centres during child birth. In response to questions on Citi FM on Friday regarding the development that about only 15% of child birth delivery are done by skilled attendants, Mrs Seno noted: “Some of them, (referring to pregnant women) it is the fear of the unknown.” She explained: “Hospitals scare a lot of people. They believe that when you go to hospital, you either die or something, and so many people will prefer staying at home where they can relax and then get the services that they need. Whether good or not they prefer it.” Even though there has been some education on the need for pregnant women to attend antenatal and deliver at approved centres, some women have so determined that they would only visit health centres at their own peril. “Some of them will tell you the attitude of health professionals, they (midwives) are overworked, 11 midwives attend to over 400 people and so you don’t have special attention for pregnant women who visit the health facility; but in the house, the traditional birth attendant is with them, the know them and the relationship between them is very cordial.” Most pregnant women only rush to hospitals at the eleventh hour when there are complications. Even though delivering in Ghana is free, with this attitude persisting in the society, Mrs Seno was worried Ghana might not achieve the improved maternal healthcare objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) by 2015. She reckoned that some efforts are being made in that direction, but pointed out that achieving the MDG “is a big challenge”. She appealed to the Christian Council of Ghana to use their influence in society to educate women in rural areas to patronise health facilities to reduce the maternal mortality rate in Ghana. Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com