965 women died giving birth in 2025: govt calls it a “National Emergency”
965 women died in Ghana’s hospitals and clinics last year while trying to bring life into the world. That’s the new figure from the Ministry of Health, and officials say it’s a wake-up call the country can’t ignore.
The grim reality
The 965 institutional maternal deaths recorded in 2025 put Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio at about 122 deaths per 100,000 live births. To put it plainly: about 8 women died every day from pregnancy and childbirth complications. That’s 1 woman every 3 hours.
Progress has stalled.
After years of slow decline, the ratio actually ticked up from 100 per 100,000 in 2023 to 102 in 2024, then to 122 in 2025. At this pace, Ghana will miss the UN’s SDG target of 70 deaths per 100,000 by 2030.
“This is not just a health problem”
Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, did not mince words at a high-level dialogue in Accra last December.
She called maternal deaths a “national emergency” and a crisis of gender equality and human rights. “These are not just numbers. Each one is a life cut short, a family grieving, and a newborn who will grow up without a mother,” Dr. Lartey said. She revealed that even her own ministry recorded a maternal death among the nearly 900 cases reported between January and November 2025.
Deputy Chief of Staff Oye Bampo warned the final 2025 figure could have crossed 1,000 if urgent steps weren’t taken.
Why it’s happening
Health officials say most of these deaths were preventable. The Ghana Health Service points to 4 main failures:
- Delayed care – Women arriving at hospitals too late due to poor transport, distance, or cultural barriers
- Weak referrals – Emergency systems that can’t move patients fast enough from clinics to hospitals
- Supply gaps – Shortages of blood, drugs, and equipment in referral and teaching hospitals
- Strained facilities – 42% of all 2025 deaths happened in just 11 major hospitals
Top causes listed: postpartum bleeding, high blood pressure in pregnancy, and infections.
Government’s 24-month rescue plan
The Ministry of Health has launched the National Maternal Mortality Reduction Action and Response Programme [MMARP] with one goal: cut maternal deaths by 30% in 2 years.
What’s in it:
- Enforce protocols for bleeding, hypertension and sepsis in every hospital
- Fix the referral system and fast-track the National Patient Referral Policy Retool 11 high-burden hospitals with better equipment and blood banks
- Community push – more antenatal outreach and education, especially in rural areas
Deputy Health Minister Prof. Grace Ayensu-Danquah said the plan will be backed by a new $13 million, 5-year project with Korea targeting Ashanti, Central and Eastern regions.
What doctors on the ground say
Dr. Kennedy Brightson of GHS Family Health put it bluntly:
“958 women walked into our facilities full of hope to deliver their babies, and they never returned home. They came to us expecting safe delivery.”
What happens next
With 965 deaths in 2025, the pressure is now on regional health directors and district hospitals to report monthly data and implement MMARP protocols immediately.
The message from Accra is clear: Ghana has the policies and the funding pledges. What’s missing is faster action at the clinic level.
As Dr. Lartey said: “No woman should lose her life to give life.”
About The Author
