Following the construction of a 60-bed Maternity and child health block by MTN at the Keta Municipal Hospital in March2024, there has been no maternal deaths recorded at the facility for the first half of 2026.
The new facility has also seen an increase in antenatal care attendance, which has shot up from 8,641 in 2022, to 10,174 in 2025.
In the first half of 2026, a total of 4,635 antenatal visits were recorded.
Maternity admissions have also increased from 1,966 in 2023 to 2,475 in 2025, an increase of about 26% in two years.
There were 1,331 maternity admissions for the first six months of 2026.
Neonatal admissions for 2025 stood at 501, compared to the 377 recorded in 2024. Meanwhile there were 301 new births recorded in the first six months of 2026.
Neonatal mortality rates at the facility also reduced sharply from 6 per 1000 live births in 2022, to 1 per 1,000 live births in 2024, far below pre-construction levels.
So far in 2026, no neonatal deaths have been recorded in the facility.
Patients who spoke to The NewsCenta during a visit to the facility by MTN officials to assess the effect of the facility on residents were full of praise to MTN for the gesture.
An expectant mother, who gave her Rebecca, described the facility as “very comfortable, very spacious – it’s just like home. We are so relaxed. There are more facilities and bed here, as compared to the old building.”
Patricia Afful, who just delivered her first baby, was full of gratitude for the construction of the facility.
She said, “it’s been very, very comfortable. Everyone here has been good. I had an emergency Caesarian Section, and they really worked very fast and did very well.”
A Midwife at the hospital, Letitia Mawuli Foli, said the construction of the block had brought a significant impact on maternal and child health in the community.
She said, due to the size of the new facility, patients have improved privacy, with improved emergency response, as the now-separate facility is not overrun.
“It has reduced the stress for both clients and staff,” she reiterated.
The Administrator of the Keta Municipal Hospital, Farouk Iddrisu, who led the team on a guided tour of the facility, expressed his gratitude to MTN for the gift of the Maternity Block, which he said had brought dignity to the childbearing process in Keta.
“We struggled with people on the floor, as far as delivery was concerned, but after March 2024, it’s been a very beautiful story. It has improved access to quality health services for mothers and their children.”
Head of Pharamcy at the hospital, Dr Emma Pekyi, was full of praise for the facility. She explained that the Maternity block had become the primary point of call in the District and surrounding areas, with pregnant women preferring to come to the hospital for delivery, even if they did not use the antenatal services available at the facility.
She expressed her delight as a pharmacist that with the new facility stocking all the necessary department and offices, patient and their relatives do not have to run around looking for medication from far away shops, but can use the block as a one-stop shop for all their pregnancy-related needs.
