Opinion piece by Sr. Regina Zoot, SHCJ
Enough of the negligence; women deserve all the attention needed to bring forth another life.
It is with profound sorrow and a heavy heart that I share the tragic story of my beloved niece, Selina, who passed away recently. Her death was not only a personal loss to our family but also a painful reminder of the critical gaps that still exist in maternal healthcare, especially for high-risk pregnant women.
As anyone who has lost a loved one knows, grief is often accompanied by questions. As we mourn, we are left with difficult and haunting questions:Â Could her death have been prevented? Was enough done, early enough, to recognize the complexity of her case and ensure she received the specialized care she needed? How can we prevent something like this from happening again?
Selina was a high-risk patient by all medical standards. She was an expectant mother aged 42 years old, of small stature, and a carrier of sickle-cell disease. Despite these clear risk factors, we feel she was not given the level of care her condition warranted, especially since she was faithful to her antenatal visits.
When my niece began experiencing pain in her legs—pain she recognized as indicative of a sickle cell crisis—she sought help at a popular faith base Hospital in Sunyani, where she had been receiving antenatal care. She was admitted and remained in the hospital for six days. But during that time, her condition worsened. It was only when her situation became critical that she was referred to the Sunyani Regional Hospital.
By then, it was too late. The fetus died three days before she herself passed away. We are devastated, especially since she had bravely carried the baby for 35 weeks.
We are left asking: Does this popular faith-based hospital in Sunyani have an obstetrician or the expertise to have monitored her during the antenatal period? Could they have delivered the baby before she went into crisis? What was done during those critical six days at this Hospital? Was there sufficient urgency in her treatment? Was a timely referral considered when her crisis began, not just when it became life-threatening?
Our family, like many others who have suffered such preventable losses, is heartbroken and outraged. We believe this was a case of medical negligence—a tragedy that could have been prevented with earlier intervention or a timely referral to a more adequately equipped facility. We believe that with timely intervention, at least one life could have been saved.
Midwives and healthcare professionals are entrusted with the sacred duty of safeguarding the lives of both mother and child. This includes identifying high-risk pregnancies and taking proactive steps—whether through close monitoring, specialist consultations, or timely referrals—to ensure the best possible outcome.
There is no doubt that many midwives and healthcare professionals in Ghana are dedicated to their sacred calling to care for the sick and are working tirelessly to save lives. In this specific case, we feel this popular faith-based hospital in Sunyani failed us and needs to re-examine its healthcare system, especially care for high-risk pregnant women.
Selina’s story must serve as a wake-up call. No woman should lose her life—nor any family lose a daughter, sister, or mother—because signs of risk were ignored or because timely action was not taken.
Understandably, our family is also distraught because negligence played a role in this tragedy, and we speak out not just in grief, but in hope. Hope that, by raising awareness, steps will be taken to prevent this kind of loss from happening to another family. No mother, no child should be lost due to preventable oversight in a medical setting.
This is more than a personal tragedy. It is a call to action—for healthcare providers, hospital administrators, and public health officials—to examine the systems in place for maternal care, especially for high-risk pregnancies. Let this painful story not end in silence, but in change.
Let her story be the last of its kind.
