The Chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, has punched holes in the story surrounding the circumstances of the death of a pregnant woman at the Kasoa Mother and Child Hospital.
Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane raised serious concerns, describing the account so far as inconsistent and requiring urgent investigation.
According to him, standard medical protocol requires that referred cases, especially those involving labour complications, be attended to not only by midwives but also by a medical doctor.
He disclosed that if no doctor was available at the time, the patient should have been promptly referred again to another appropriate facility.
Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane highlighted that in typical practice, patients who undergo caesarean sections are returned to their original beds after surgery, raising serious doubt on claims that a lack of recovery beds prevented the procedure.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, Dr Nawaane stated, “This type of story does not add up, and it is not the typical no bed syndrome case that we usually speak about”.
“How did you admit the patient without a bed?” he asked. “Or was it that she was asked to go to another facility and she did not go?”
“We need the truth. What we have heard so far does not add up,” he stressed
However, the information gathered suggests Abigail Opoku reportedly died at the facility on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
Reports suggest the pregnant woman was allegedly denied an emergency caesarean section because there was no available recovery ward bed.
According to reports, her family stressed she had been referred from a private hospital for urgent treatment but remained in the delivery ward for about 36 hours without surgery, and they believe the delay led to her death.
Following the development, the Central Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service has set up a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.
In a statement signed by the Central Regional Director of Health Service, Dr Mrs. Alberta Adjebeng Biritwum-Nyarko, on April 29, 2026, highlighted that it is being treated with “utmost seriousness,”
He disclosed that a dedicated committee has been formed to conduct a full investigation.
Parts of the statement read, “The Central Regional Health Directorate wishes to inform the general public that it has become aware of the unfortunate maternal death that occurred at the Kasoa Mother and Child Hospital. We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family, loved ones, and all those affected by this tragic loss”.
The Central Regional Director of Health Service disclosed that the committee has been tasked to carry out a “thorough, objective, and transparent” review of the incident and submit its findings and recommendations for public disclosure.
The committee comprised members from the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, the Trauma and Specialist Hospital, the Regional Health Directorate, the Regional Coordinating Council, and the Office of the Attorney-General.
The Central Regional Director of Health Service also called for calm, urging the public to allow the committee to complete its work without interference and also reaffirmed its commitment to patient safety and quality healthcare.
Meanwhile, the father of 27-year-old Abigail Opoku, the pregnant woman who passed away after allegedly being denied a caesarean section at the Kasoa Mother and Child Hospital, has called for the dismissal of the doctors and nurses who were on duty at the hospital.
Speaking after the incident, in a viral video, the father of late Abigail Opoku stated, “The doctors and nurses who were on duty at the time of the incident at the Mother and Child Hospital must be dismissed. The government must pay attention to that hospital because they have caused me great harm with what it did to my child. All my hope is lost”.
“It was after my daughter had died that someone had the courage to inform me of it. They told me they were calling the mortuary workers to come and carry her body away. I was shaking and couldn’t control myself when they carried my daughter away to the mortuary,” he added.
“The mortuary attendant said the unborn baby had to be removed from my daughter, and the process, together with the embalmment, would amount to GH₵1200,” he stated.
Also, Abigail Opoku’s sister has also explained, saying, “Before she was referred, we were told to allow for a cesarean surgery to save both the baby and the mother. But when we told the nurses at Mother and Child Hospital, they said the recovery ward was fully occupied, so they couldn’t perform the surgery”.
“They told us she will deliver. We arrived between 2 and 3 am, but they gave her no medication. She was lying in pain, and even when she personally requested the CS, they didn’t mind her,” she added.