Ghana’s maternal health crisis has deepened, with about 900 women losing their lives to pregnancy- and childbirth-related complications in 2025, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has revealed.
Minister Madam Agnes Naa Momo Lartey made the alarming disclosure at a high-level stakeholder meeting in Accra, where she described the situation as unacceptable and distressing. Despite years of investment in maternal healthcare, she said, too many women are still dying while giving life.
According to the Minister, Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio has improved only marginally over the past decade, falling from 316 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010 to 301 in 2020. She warned that if current trends persist, the country will fall far short of the SDG target of reducing maternal mortality to 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Figures from the Ghana Health Service suggest that progress has stalled, with maternal deaths inching up from 100 per 100,000 live births in 2023 to 102 in 2024, reinforcing fears that existing interventions are not delivering lasting impact.
At the Presidential Maternal Health Dialogue, Madam Lartey noted that most of these deaths are preventable, yet continue due to fragile health systems, late antenatal attendance, poor emergency transport and referral networks, and deep-rooted socio-cultural barriers—especially in rural and underserved communities.
The Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr Oye Bampo, confirmed that nearly 900 maternal deaths had been recorded nationwide by November 2025, warning that the toll could surpass 1,000 before the year ends if urgent corrective measures are not taken.
Representing the Health Minister, Dr Hafez Adam Taher admitted that Ghana is currently off course in achieving its maternal mortality targets under the Universal Health Coverage roadmap. He pointed to longstanding challenges such as inadequate emergency transport, limited blood and transfusion services, weak supply chains for essential maternal health commodities, and inconsistent maternal and newborn death surveillance.
Madam Lartey further framed maternal mortality as not only a health emergency but also a development and human rights crisis, disclosing that even the Ministry of Gender itself has recorded a maternal death among this year’s cases.
In response, the government says it will scale up interventions, including the uncapping of the NHIS and the expansion of social protection measures under the Mahama Cares Initiative, aimed at easing financial and logistical barriers to emergency maternal care.
Calling for collective action, the Minister urged families, traditional and religious leaders, civil society, the media, local authorities and the private sector to play their part.
“Saving women’s lives is not charity; it is justice,” she said, warning that without decisive and coordinated action, childbirth will continue to claim the lives of Ghanaian women.
