Lack of incubators at Dormaa hospital; Cause of high infant mortality
The General Manager of the Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Effah Yeboah, has said the hospital needs at least five incubators to enable it to effectively deal with preterm cases.
Advertisement
He said the hospital served more than 20 health centres in the area and had midwives in Dormaa Central, East and West districts and parts of the Western Region.
The manager was speaking on the recent reports about the lack of incubators at the hospital which had resulted in the deaths of some premature babies.
“We have only two old model incubators which are not working now,” Mr Effah said.
Preterm deaths
Speaking to the Daily Graphic about the difficulties the Paediatrics Department of the hospital encountered in the management of preterm cases, he explained that the hospital could not procure incubators due to its high cost.
Incubators cost between GH¢10,000 and GH¢15,000, depending on the size and functions.
He said the two incubators the hospital had were also old-fashioned and had become difficult to repair due to the unavailability of the faulty parts.
‘Wooden incubators’
Mr Effah noted that improvised wooden incubators made it impossible to regulate the temperature and other key supporting elements in real incubators.
“The improvised wooden ones only make the babies warm and are not as effective as the proper ones,” he indicated.
The manager further explained that although the hospital had a specialist unit to handle preterm cases, due to the lack of the incubators and other supporting devices, it had been rendered nonoperational.
Cases
The Paediatrician Specialist at the hospital, Dr Adoma Dwomo Fokuo, said last year, for instance, the hospital received 755 neonatal admissions, out of which 78 died, stressing that 33.3 per cent of the 78 deaths were premature cases.
She explained, however, that not all preterm deaths could be prevented with the use of incubators and added that averagely, one out of every five preterm cases died in the hospital.
Touching on the 19 neonatal deaths the hospital had recorded, Dr Adoma said one-third of the 19 deaths, representing 30 per cent, was due to lack of proper incubators.