When a mother dies during childbirth, Ghana investigates the circumstances, documents what went wrong and communicates the findings to the relevant authorities, with the aim of preventing future maternal deaths.
But what happens to the lives left behind?
With hundreds of maternal deaths recorded annually - 965 in 2025 according to figures presented in Parliament- the process of losing a mother is potentially repeated hundreds of times each year.
Behind these numbers are babies deprived of their mothers’ care, protection and nurturing presence, as well as fathers, siblings and extended families suddenly forced to adjust to a profound loss.
Yet, while there is a system for investigating the mother’s death, there is no equally systematic process for asking:
Who is caring for the baby? Is the baby feeding well? Is the caregiver coping? Is the family safe? Is the child developing appropriately?
Maternal mortality is therefore not only a maternal-health problem. It is also a child-development, family and national-development problem.
A newborn may leave the hospital alive, but the crisis does not end there.
The baby may lose breastfeeding and responsive maternal care.
Fathers may suddenly become grieving spouses, breadwinners and primary caregivers.
Grandparents may become caregivers unexpectedly, while older children may lose schooling or assume responsibilities beyond their age.
Many families are resilient, but national policy cannot assume that every family will cope equally well.
A caregiver may be poor, a father may have to return to work immediately, a grandmother may be elderly, and grief may remain unaddressed.
The family may also fail to recognise developmental warning signs.
This is where maternal deprivation becomes an invisible consequence of maternal mortality.
There is no single international system that automatically follows every child whose mother dies to a specified age.
International child-protection approaches, including those promoted by UNICEF, emphasise family preservation, case management, psychosocial support, caregiver support and community-based services.
Ghana can build on these principles while we strive to achieve Zero Tolerance for maternal death.
Ghana should consider piloting a Maternal Loss Child Protection Card (MLCPC) whenever a mother dies during pregnancy, childbirth or the postpartum period and leaves behind a newborn or dependent children.
The card would not simply be a medical record.
It would be a child-protection, developmental and family-support tool, linked where appropriate to the child’s health record.
It would document the child’s health and feeding, the father’s capacity, the primary caregiver, other dependent children, financial vulnerabilities, family support and safeguarding concerns.
Most importantly, it would trigger structured follow-up beyond the clinic.
At 72 hours after discharge, the family would be checked to ensure that the baby is safe, feeding adequately and has appropriate care.
At six weeks, three months, six months, 12 months and 24 months, follow-up would assess growth, nutrition, caregiving, developmental progress, family stability and caregiver wellbeing.
Enhanced follow-up could continue annually until age five, focusing on language, behaviour, learning readiness, school or preschool attendance, nutrition and protection.
Children doing well could eventually exit enhanced follow-up, while those with identified vulnerabilities remain connected to appropriate services.
Included
The father and other children must also be included.
Supporting a grieving father to care effectively for his child is child protection. Older siblings should be protected from becoming substitute caregivers or losing educational opportunities.
Ghana would not necessarily need another bureaucracy.
The MLCPC could connect existing structures: Health facility → CHPS/community health worker → Social Welfare → early-childhood services → school/preschool → community support.
The card should trigger support, not surveillance - including parenting assistance, food or social protection where necessary, developmental referral and safeguarding intervention.
We must continue asking: “Why did this mother die, and what must change to prevent another death?”
But we must also ask: “Who has been left behind, and what must we do to ensure those children thrive?”
The first protects future mothers.
he second protects the future generation.
We must begin caring systematically for the children mothers leave behind.
The writer is a child development expert/Fellow of the Zero-To-Three Academy, USA.
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