This gift in action
In Ghana, around 75 women die each week because of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. But it doesn't have to be this way. Since Ghana’s government made health care free for all pregnant women, nearly half a million women have received expert care. That's half a million women like Napari. She suffered life-threatening complications during the birth of her daughter, Safia.
Napari lives with her husband in the Wantugu community in northern Ghana. She has lost four of her seven children, three in childbirth. The birth of her seventh child, Safia, was extremely difficult and Napari was rushed to Tamale teaching hospital over 70 km of uneven roads. Without the hospital’s free delivery policy, Napari would have been unable to afford the treatment she needed. In all likelihood, she would have turned to a locally trusted but unqualified traditional birth attendant. Instead, the specialist care and caesarean delivery she received in hospital saved her life. And her baby daughter's.
Oxfam campaigns for free health care for all, so more mothers like Napari can access the treatment they need. We're training birth attendants and midwives to provide life-saving care. And we're making sure women not only know how to access free health care, but feel able to speak up and demand it.