[2021]DLHC10754 • July 21, 2021 • High Court
DR. E.L.A. CHINBUAH vs. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The deceased, Mrs. Helena Abrema Nyamekye, a PhD student, attended antenatal care at 37 Military Hospital due to pregnancy-induced hypertension. Despite her and her husband's request for a caesarean section (C/S), the medical team induced labor. The delivery was traumatic, resulting in the death of the deceased from postpartum hemorrhage and injuries to the baby, including right arm deformity. The Plaintiffs allege negligence by the hospital staff in failing to honor the C/S request, inadequate monitoring during labor, and delayed treatment of vaginal tears leading to fatal bleeding.
read morei. Introduction: [1] In an article published in the African Journal of Reproductive Health this year, the authors note that: “Maternal death is one of the most painful, unforgettable tragedies that can befall a family or community anywhere… Most of these deaths are preventable, yet this tragedy remains so common in low and middle income countries.” How do loved ones and health care professionals account for what might have been a preventable death during childbirth at a major health care facility? Anecdotal evidence of such preventable deaths abound but it is not often that laypersons and stakeholders obtain insight into such tragedies as in this case where the doctors who treated the deceased admit that her death was preventable. This is the factual dynamic around which this case revolves. [2] The work of the physicians and in particular those who treated the deceased, Mrs. Helena Abrema Nyamekye and/or attended to her at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra is called into q...