The heroic act of a nurse, Amos Acheampong, and his Community Health Nurse assistant, Ruby Amenuve, on Monday, January 7, 2022, helped save the life of a woman who went into labour and her newborn baby.

The nurse stationed at the Agyata CHPS Compound had to improvise and ensure the safe delivery of the baby in a bush when he and his assistant were called to duty in the early hours of Monday morning.

“We got to the facility early in the morning and one Fulani headman came to the facility that one of their women who is an ANC client is in labour.

"She actually told them that she wanted to attend to nature’s call and they don’t have a toilet facility so she went to the bush. They realized she was not coming back and so one of the women went to check up on her and found her in labour. We accompanied the man who came to report the incident to the facility on a motorbike,” Amos Acheampong narrated in an interview with GhanaWeb.

The nurse disclosed that in less than 15 minutes of their arrival at the scene, the mother successfully delivered her baby.

“We arrived at the scene with some few items for an emergency delivery. Upon arrival, we realized that the membrane had raptured spontaneously. Within 10 to 15 minutes, she delivered a bouncy baby boy. We delivered the placenta and biked her on a motor to the facility for management so currently, the mother and the baby have been discharged home."

The Afram Plains area is one of the most deprived in Ghana and according to Amos, his facility is not spared of the hardships that comes with living in such an area.

Apart from a motorbike that is prone to faults used for activities at the facility, he stated that they are faced with a major challenge in terms of water supply.

“Although we have quite a number of equipment which we can use for delivery, we don’t have a delivery room. We do have a scan machine but everything is stationed at one place. So providing privacy for clients who come to seek services in the place is quite a challenge,” the nurse said.

Despite the many challenges that come with the work, Amos said the oath he swore as a nurse and the duty that comes with it, keeps him motivated.

“When your desires are not available you have to make your available your desire and we swore an oath to care for the health of all Ghanaians irrespective of the challenges. The fact that there are no resources does not mean we should give up on the work that we have committed ourselves to do.

"The best motivation comes from ourselves and we are more determined and passionate to render services to the Ghanaian community. Because we believe that we with a healthy population we can build a healthy economy. That is the motivation.

"We also believe that this is for God and country. If even men do not talk about us, our names will be mentioned somewhere - those of us who believe in God,” Amos Acheampong emphasized.