Media personality and mother MzGee has urged the government to take a closer look at maternal deaths across Ghana, warning that women should not be losing their lives while giving birth in a country with access to modern healthcare.
Her call comes amid renewed concern over reported maternal deaths at health facilities, with families increasingly demanding answers about what happened to loved ones who went to hospitals expecting safe deliveries.
MzGee, who convenes the annual Convergence of Mothers, said the issue deserves national attention because childbirth should not become a life-threatening ordeal for women who seek medical care.
“I cannot imagine what it would be like to carry a seed for nine months … and then you go to labour, expecting to come home with your bundle of joy, and then you either die or that baby doesn’t come home with you,” she said.
Her comments follow the death of 31-year-old Theresa Boakye Dua after a Caesarean section at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, popularly known as Ridge Hospital.
Theresa’s husband, Daniel Ofori Asante, alleged in a Facebook post on August 28 that negligence involving the hospital and some medical personnel contributed to his wife’s death.
The couple had been married for 19 months, and the Caesarean section was reportedly Theresa’s first childbirth experience. According to Asante, they had placed their confidence in Ridge Hospital to safely deliver their first child. Instead, the family was left mourning both the loss of Theresa and the devastating circumstances surrounding her death.
For MzGee, however, the concerns extend beyond one hospital.
She said reports of maternal deaths involving different health facilities should not be dismissed as unrelated incidents. Instead, she believes they should prompt a broader examination of Ghana’s maternal healthcare system.
“It hasn’t even had to do with just a particular hospital. Yes, some hospitals, you keep hearing their names, but there are many hospitals … we are hearing these stories coming from,” she said.
The scale of the problem is reflected in government figures.
Deputy Minister for Health Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah disclosed on August 6, 2026, that 986 pregnant women died in Ghana in 2024. The country’s maternal mortality ratio stood at 235 deaths per 100,000 live births.
Although Ghana has made considerable progress over the years, the figures remain troubling because maternal deaths are often linked to complications that can be prevented or managed when women receive timely and appropriate care.
Data from the World Health Organization and World Bank show that Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio dropped sharply from 943 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 234 in 2023.
The improvement represents significant progress, but MzGee believes the remaining cases cannot simply be accepted as an unavoidable consequence of childbirth.
She also rejected the notion that the problem can be solved merely by encouraging expectant mothers to seek treatment at expensive or well-established hospitals.
“People have money, they’re going to big hospitals, they’re going to hospitals that have made names over the years, but still … what is happening?” she questioned.
MzGee is calling for the Ministry of Health to examine maternal death cases more closely and establish exactly what happened in each case.
“The Health Ministry should begin to look into these cases. They are becoming one too many, and it’s not just a facility,” she said.
A major part of her concern is the transparency surrounding investigations after a woman dies during childbirth.
She questioned whether hospitals provide sufficient information about maternal deaths and whether there are effective mechanisms for determining responsibility when negligence or professional misconduct is suspected.
“Who’s ensuring that these hospitals are giving us factual reports? Who is holding them to ransom? If I don’t have a voice, who gets to hear about me?” she asked.
She subsequently appealed to the Presidency, the Ministry of Health and First Lady Lordina Mahama to give maternal health sustained national attention.
“I think that the Presidency should begin to look into this issue,” she said, adding that maternal health should be treated as “a project” requiring sustained attention.
For MzGee, investigations should not end with the identification of what went wrong. The findings, she said, should be used to improve healthcare delivery, strengthen professional practice and provide lessons for both medical personnel and pregnant women.
She also believes greater transparency could help restore confidence in the health system.
The repeated reports of women dying in childbirth, she warned, risk creating a climate of fear among expectant mothers who should be able to approach hospitals with confidence rather than anxiety.
“I can’t be pregnant and be scared to go to the hospital to give birth. I can’t be frightened. I can’t be unsure in my mind whether I’m going and returning because I’ve had too many stories of women going on and on,” she said.
That fear, she argued, could have consequences of its own, particularly for women already dealing with the physical and emotional demands of pregnancy.
MzGee acknowledged the progress Ghana has made in reducing maternal mortality, but maintained that the country cannot afford complacency while families continue to lose mothers during childbirth.
“Nobody should die trying to give life to another,” she stressed.
