Mother needs counselling-To overcome traumatic experience

Daily Graphic pg 11, Tues. May 26/09

Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Clinical Psychologist, Mr Adolf Awuku-Bekoe, has stated that the 25-year-old woman who gave birth at home because she could not readily access medical care at the Kaneshie Polyclinic needs to be counselled to overcome her traumatic experience.
He said the woman, Ms Abigail Inkoom, was currently overwhelmed by her experience such that she would refuse to go to the hospital, which is a normal reaction.
He said the woman was likely to suffer a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and that she needed to see a psychologist.
He said if she was not helped, the experience would always torment her, a situation which would not be good for her, saying she was now sensitive to fear, blood, pain and nurses for which she should be helped to overcome.
Recounting her ordeal to the Daily Graphic, Mr Louis Asilenu, a civil servant, who is the husband of Ms Inkoom, said on May 15, 2009, his wife, an expectant mother, reported to the Kaneshie Polyclinic with severe contractions, but authorities at the clinic asked her to go home and report later to the hospital, since according to them, her time was not due.
According to him, his wife started having contractions on May 14, which became very severe about midnight, so he had to rush her to the polyclinic, where she had been receiving ante-natal care since November, last year. He said she was admitted, but discharged around 8 a.m. the same day with the explanation that her time not due and that she was due to give birth two or three days later.
He said his wife called him at about 8.30 a.m. to inform him that she had been discharged, but he was not comfortable with the tone of his wife’s voice so he rushed home at about 11 a.m. only to find her lying on the floor weak having delivered herself of her baby, with the baby’s umbilical cord hanging.
He said it was depressing seeing his wife in his room with the baby on the floor and the umbilical cord and the placenta not taken care of.
He said his labouring wife was so exhausted that she could not call anyone to come to her aid.
With the aid of other people, he said, he took his wife and the baby to the Mamprobi Polyclinic, where they were attended to and discharged around 5 p.m. the same day.
He said currently, although his wife did not look too well and was traumatised by the ordeal, she was refusing to seek medical attention from any health facility.
Mr Asilenu is demanding a compensation of GH¢40,000 from the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and an additional GH¢10,000 from the Kaneshie Polyclinic for the psychological trauma his wife went through and “for the health authorities turning my wife away while I have subscribed to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) over a year and have renewed without even attending any hospital”.
He said although health authorities claimed they were investigating the matter, he would advise himself, if nothing was done about his demand by seeking redress in the court of law.
When contacted for his comment, Dr Raymond Atuguba, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, said the incident was a clear case of failure on the part of the state to provide quality and accessible health care for its people.
He said the man could sue the state in respect of the right to life and the provision of quality health care, saying that although the right to the provision of quality healthcare was not expressively stated in the Constitution, he could still sue on the grounds of right to life, which is stated in the Constitution.
According to him, the quality of service rendered by some health service providers could not be described as professional, but he was quick to add that the quality of the delivery of such service by health personnel in the country could not be attributed solely to lack of professionalism since they lacked the resources and were also often overwhelmed by the number of patients they attended to on daily basis, a situation he said increased their margin of error.
He said the government should be able to structure its healthcare system by cutting down on waste in other sectors and channelling them into the provision of quality health care.
An official of the Ghana Health Service, who pleaded anonymity, said the service had launched a full-scale investigation into the issue.
According to him, the service would look into the report that would be presented and take appropriate action, assuring that the service would not cover up its mistake.