Bundle of joy

As Ghanaians celebrated the Christmas and New Year festivities, thankful for surviving a rather challenging year that was characterised by the impact of the COVID-19, it was double joy for many families who welcomed new additions to their families.

A total of 108 babies were delivered in nine hospitals in five regions.

Of the number, 44 were males and 64, females.

Apart from the mothers who were delivered of their babies through Caesarean section (CS) and had to be monitored at the hospitals, all the other mothers and their babies were discharged a day after delivery.

A Caesarean section is a surgical procedure by which a baby is delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mother at risk.

Sadly, one baby did not survive as it died on the same day it was born.

New Year baby boom at Tema

From Tema, Benjamin Xornam Glover reports that New Year’s Day recorded the highest of 15 newborns out of the 25 deliveries recorded at the General Hospital.

Of the number of babies born on January 1, eight were females and seven, males.

On Christmas Day, the facility recorded 10 deliveries, seven of them were males.

The first baby delivered on Christmas Day, a male, arrived at 12.50 a.m. weighing 3.4kg while the last baby for the day, also a male, was delivered at 7:40p.m.

On New Year's Day, the first baby, a male, popped out at 3:40 a.m. while the last delivery, a female, was recorded at 8:23 p.m.

Double bundle of joy

There was double bundle of joy at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital as the maternity unit recorded 45 deliveries which included a set of twins and triplets who were born on December 25 and 26, 2020, reports Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor.

On Christmas Day, 20 babies, including a set of twins, were delivered and 16 including the set of triplets were delivered on Boxing Day.

Nine babies, three males and six females, were delivered on New Year’s Day.

While 12 out of the births were through Caesarean sections, the rest were through normal deliveries or what is known as Spontaneous Vaginal Deliveries (SVD).

Another delivery was recorded at the Asafo-Boakye Special Hospital at Santasi-Kokoben.

The smooth delivery at the Santasi facility arrived in Kumasi via Spontaneous Vagina Delivery (SVD).

SVD occurs when a pregnant female goes into labour without the use of drugs or techniques to induce labour and delivers her baby in the normal manner, without forceps, vacuum extraction or a CS.

Safe delivery

A medical officer with the Asafo-Boakye Special Hospital, Dr Antwi Boasiako, told the Daily Graphic that one of its aims was to assist pregnant women to give birth without any complications.

"Babies born on New Year's Day do not play any role on the delivery bed or process of delivery as compared with that of babies born on other days.

"In fact, new year babies are not more brilliant than babies born on other days as perceived by the general public. Their brilliance is inherited from their parents — they only bring excitement and fulfilment," he said.

Father’s joy

An elated father of the newborn, Mr Dennis Asare, could not hide his joy during an interaction with the Daily Graphic as he broke down in tears of joy to welcome the family’s first child.

"New Year means a fresh start and I hope this baby will bring to the family all the joy that always filled the air during new year festivities," he said.

Joy short-lived

It was not that joyous for a mother in Sunyani, as her expectation of welcoming her baby into the world was short-lived, reports Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah and Biiya Mukusah Ali Sunyani.

The baby, who unfortunately did not survive, was one of the 16 babies delivered on Christmas Day in four different hospitals – the Sunyani Regional Hospital, Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital at Fiapre, the Sunyani Municipal Hospital and the Owusu Memorial Hospital at New Town, a suburb of Sunyani in the Bono Region.

Sex

Out of the 16 babies delivered on Christmas Day in the four health facilities, eight males and females.

The Sunyani Regional Hospital recorded seven babies, comprising three males and four females out of the 16 recorded in the four facilities while the Sunyani Municipal Hospital also recorded seven newborn babies, made up of four males and three females.

At the SDA Hospital, one male birth was recorded while at the Owusu Memorial Hospital, the single delivery which occurred on the festive occasion was a female.

As many as 13 out of the 16 that were delivered in the four health facilities in Sunyani on Christmas Day were done through Caesarean section.

Report to hospital early

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, a midwife in charge of the Maternity of the Sunyani Regional Hospital, Madam Susan Tiwaa, advised expectant mothers, especially first timers and those who were having their fifth child to seek antenatal care at the early stage of their pregnancy to prevent complications.

She explained that expectant mothers in those categories were at risk and needed antenatal care for diagnosis of their problems to avoid such complications.

Madam Tiwaa also advised them to ensure that they were delivered of their babies at a hospital, explaining that that would help prevent deaths and complications during delivery.

New Year’s Day

On New Year’s Day, 13 babies, made up of nine females and four males, were delivered in four hospitals in  Sunyani.

Ho

The Ho Teaching Hospital (HTU) recorded nine babies on Christmas and New Year’s days, reports Mary Anane-Amponsah from Ho.

Two male babies were born on Christmas Day through CS while seven others, five of whom were girls, were born on New Year’s Day.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mr Amos Jah, five of the babies born on January 1 were through natural delivery and two were through Caesarean section. The babies and their mothers have since been discharged.

Caesarean section concerns

From Bolgatanga, Vincent Amenuveve reports that the Upper East Regional Hospital recorded eight newborn babies, four males and four females on New Year’s Day.

A Senior Staff Midwife at the Children's Ward of the Hospital, Ms Zeinab Kadir, who made this known to the Daily Graphic at the Regional Hospital at Bolgatanga, explained that five out of the eight deliveries were through vaginal delivery while three were through CS.

 She stated that so far all the newborn babies and their mothers were healthy but she could not readily give figures regarding the number of babies delivered on Christmas Day.

Surviving mother and baby

A teacher and mother of two, Ms Josephine Gandaakuu, who underwent a CS, described it as a “scary process,” intimating that initially she did not want to go through it.

However, when she learnt that her life and that of her newborn baby girl were not at risk, she gave her consent to go through the section.

Her first baby, a boy, was through normal delivery and that it was her hope that the second would also be through a normal delivery but that was not the case.