By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Pregnancy comes with lots of pains and complications before the ninth month or delivery time is up. A new dimension to make pregnancy safe and somewhat fun for pregnant women and their families is the pregnancy school.
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show, Madam Ruby Ago Ansah-Tagoe, a Nurse and Midwife with the Tema Polyclinic in Accra, described the pregnancy school as a concept designed by the Ghana Health Service to help and prepare pregnant women and their families during their pregnancy journey.
According to her, the pregnancy school is run by all health facilities and the Community Health and Planning Services, CHPS compounds in Ghana and runs in three trimesters. She said since the inception of the school, the rate at which expectant mothers travel long distances to deliver at their parents’ end has reduced.
Madam Ruby explained that the first Trimester of the School is to teach pregnant women how to cope with minor disorders and diet management. The second trimester comes with lessons on how to deal with danger signs such as swelling of the feet and how to deal with them when it happens. The third trimester she said the women are taking through a procedure to prepare them for labour. They are taken to the labour ward to get accustomed to what to expect when their time is due for delivery.
She further refuted the myth that surrounds some physical changes pregnant women go through during their pregnancy such as face swelling and feet swelling.
“It’s a lie. That is not true at all. When your nose becomes so big, they tell you it’s a boy. Your feet are so swollen, they tell you it’s twins. No”, she said.
Below is the full interview;
