The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi has recorded a significant drop in maternal deaths, marking the first decline in institutional maternal deaths at the hospital in the past 10 years.
The number of maternal deaths recorded at the hospital fell from 78 in mid-2025 to 55 during the same period in 2026.
The Chief Executive Officer of KATH, Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, said the improvement was partly due to the introduction of a dedicated maternal Intensive Care Unit (ICU), supported by specialists in anaesthesia and intensive care.
“We recorded a welcome reduction in institutional maternal deaths from 78 at mid-year 2025 to 55 in the corresponding period in 2026,” Dr. Baidoo said.
“No woman should die. The hospital has been recording higher maternal mortality, and this is the first time in a decade that KATH has recorded a reduction in maternal mortality rate.”
Dr. Baidoo announced this at the opening of KATH’s 2026 Mid-year Performance Review Conference in Kumasi.
He explained that the new maternal ICU has space for eight beds. However, only four of the beds are currently in use.
According to him, specialists at the unit are working to improve the chances of survival for women who develop serious complications during pregnancy or childbirth.
He expressed hope that the number of maternal deaths would reduce even further once all eight beds become operational.
KATH is also working closely with the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to improve healthcare delivery at health facilities across the region.
Dr. Baidoo said the hospital was providing clinical mentorship and training programmes for health workers at smaller and peripheral facilities.
The goal is to improve the quality of care given to pregnant women before they are referred to KATH. The hospital also wants to ensure that referrals, especially for serious maternal cases, are handled more effectively.
Dr. Baidoo explained that KATH has historically recorded a high number of maternal deaths partly because of its location and the large number of patients it receives.
The hospital serves not only patients in Kumasi and the Ashanti Region but also receives referrals from health facilities in other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, KATH has completed work on an Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Centre, which is expected to begin operations this month.
Dr. Baidoo said the new centre would make KATH the first public health institution in Ghana to operate a modern specialist fertility centre.
The facility is expected to provide specialist fertility services to people who need assistance with having children.
KATH has also completed the refurbishment of its main Dialysis Centre.
The upgrade is expected to help the hospital provide more specialist dialysis services to patients.
The centre currently has 13 working dialysis machines. There are also additional machines at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Centre.
The hospital also recorded an increase in the number of people using its specialist services during the first half of 2026.
Between January and June 2026, specialist outpatient attendance reached 149,055. This was higher than the hospital’s mid-year target of 139,740 and was a 3.61 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Emergency attendance also increased, reaching 14,467 compared with a target of 12,400.
Laboratory services recorded 174,367 cases during the period, exceeding the target of 160,401.
Despite these improvements, Dr Baidoo said there were still areas that needed more attention.
He mentioned deliveries, surgeries, physiotherapy, radiotherapy and some admission figures as areas where the hospital performed below its mid-year targets.
He said KATH would need to focus on these areas to improve its overall performance and ensure that patients continue to receive quality care.
