The Paramount Chief of the Sefwi Bekwai Traditional Area in the Western North Region, Oyeadieyie Basape Kojo Armah III, has constructed a Maternity and Baby block for the Sefwi Bekwai Health Centre to ensure quality healthcare delivery in the area.
The Maternity and Baby block, which was initiated by Oyeadieyie Basape Kojo Armah III, was funded by Mission 318, a missionary organisation from the United States of America based in Ghana at the sole health facility in Sefwi Bekwai, dedicated to supporting expectant mothers throughout their pregnancy and labour.
At a short ceremony to hand over the facility to the Municipal Directorate of the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipality, the paramount chief said prior to the construction of the maternity ward, pregnant women in Sefwi Bekwai had to be sometimes referred long distances to Bibiani and Sefwi Wiawso to access essential pregnancy and delivery services due to inadequate space to accommodate them at the centre.
This situation sometimes compelled pregnant women to resort to traditional herbal health products, posing several challenges to expectant mothers in the area.
Quality healthcare
Oyeadieyie Basape Kojo Armah indicated that the newly constructed maternity and baby block at the Sefwi Bekwai Health Centre aimed at delivering quality maternity care services to residents of Sefwi Bekwai and its surrounding communities.
He was optimistic that henceforth, women from the community would have convenient access to high-quality healthcare during pregnancy and labour.
He praised his major partners, Mission 318, for their unwavering support in putting up the facility.
Oyeadieyie Basape Kojo Armah appealed to the Health Minister, Regional Health Directorate and Ghana Health Service (GHS) to upgrade the Sefwi Bekwai Health Centre to a fully-fledged Polyclinic and staffed with a resident doctor to better serve the Bekwai community.
The Municipal Director of Health Services at the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipality, Oheneba Oppong-Darko, expressed joy at the inauguration of the facility and highlighted its positive impact and role in transforming the health sector in the community.
He was confident that with the facility in place, expectant mothers from the beneficiary communities can now move to the facility once they feel labour pangs, ensuring that childbirth is assisted by the health professionals.
Commendation
Mr Oppong-Darko hailed Oyeadieyie Basape Armah and officials from Mission 318 for their unprecedented support and pledged to ensure the regular maintenance of the new facility to benefit the unborn generations.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Sebastian Obeng, also commended Oyeadieyie Basape Armah and his partners, Mission 318, for establishing such an important facility for the Sefwi Bekwai Health Centre.
He said the facility would go a long way to end the era of pregnant mothers resorting to herbal remedies and referrals from the Bekwai Health Centre to Sefwi Wiawso and the Bibiani Municipal hospitals in times of labour to save lives.
The Member of Parliament for the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Constituency, Bright Asamoah Brefo, donated a 40KVA generator to the newly constructed maternity and baby block to ensure frequent power supply.
