This disclosure came five days after Ghanaian Times’ Investigative story published on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
The hospital, therefore, apologized to the couple and said the issue would be a wake-up call to the hospital, promising to release the results of the investigation report to the family this Friday.
This was the outcome of a meeting held on Monday with senior military officers, including the Chief of Staff (COS) at the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) – Major General Nicholas Peter Andoh, and Daniel’s family. Naawu – the husband of a woman who is expecting twins, for a briefing at the Burma Camp in Accra.
Another top military officer who was present at the meeting for a little over an hour commanded by Major General Andoh, is Brig. General Raymond Kwabena Ewusi, Director General, Medical Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, Navy Commander Dr Paul Yegbe, Urologist and surgeon at the 37 Military Hospital and Major Alfred Topper – members of the team set up to investigate the issue.
Dr. Ali Saine, a senior obstetrician and gynecologist at Military Hospital 37, who performed a Caesarean section (CS) on the exact day (September 8, 2022), also came to answer questions at the meeting.
The Naawu family of four, led by Ghana’s legendary goalkeeper, John Naawu, took turns bombarding Dr Saine with questions about the missing twins and the ultrasound scan he did at the hospital after 31 weeks.
According to Dr. Saine, the hospital was expecting twins as the scan showed but was surprised to see only one baby.
He blamed the situation on a faulty diagnosis that was first made at Cerica Diagnostic Services in Accra which suggested the woman, Ms Audrey Agyapong, was carrying a second fetus.
In response to questions, Dr Saine admitted that the second scan conducted at Military Hospital 37, also had errors, insisting that only one baby was born.
On his part, Maj. Gen. Andoh said the hospital has no intention of doing anything wrong because its credibility and reputation are always on the line.
“We will not protect anyone who tries to tarnish the name of the military.
“But we are a human institution; such errors are bound to happen, and will be guided by this going into the future,” he was quoted as saying.
When contacted yesterday, the Director of Technical and Radiology of the Cerica Diagnostic Center, Dr Eric Otu-Danquah, was surprised by the statement from the 37 Military Hospital, saying that the outfit did due diligence to achieve the results.
“We’re not saying we’re innocent, but to the best of our knowledge, we’re diligent about delivering.
“It is unfortunate that they made that conclusion. I have the contact number on the scan report in Ms Agyapong’s possession; so they can call to crosscheck if they have any doubts,” Dr Otu-Danquah said in Ghanaian Times.
Military Hospital 37, announced to Ghanaian Times, will hand over the final report of the investigation into the case that started in October 2022, to the Naawu family this Friday.
In the story of painstaking investigation brought by Ghanaian Times On Wednesday, January 18, 2023, the couple told how they went to the 37th Military Hospital expecting the twins to be given only one baby after the birth and therefore suspected a mistake.
An ultrasound examination conducted at 31 weeks of pregnancy at two medical facilities, including Military Hospital 37, revealed that one Ms Audrey Agyapong was carrying two live fetuses (twins).
The first scan report, signed by Dr Otu Danquah, was done on April 22, 2022, at Cerica Diagnostic Services at 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The results indicate a live intrauterine fetus (inside the uterus).
A second ultrasound scan carried out at Military Hospital 37 on 21 July 2022 and signed by Drs MT Mpetey and R. Asiedu, Resident and Senior Doctor respectively, confirmed the results of the previous scan with twins A weighing 269g and B weighing 261g.
“All in all, we did four different scans, all of which showed that I was carrying live twins and it was amazing that something could be lost at birth,” Ms Agyapong said. Ghanaian Times.
Explaining further, he said on September 7, 2022, at 38 weeks of pregnancy, she was admitted to Military Hospital 37 where her vitals were taken with both fetal heartbeats confirmed to be normal.
In the follow-up story by Ghanaian Times on Friday, January 20, 2023, the couple was informed that Ms. Agyapong’s placenta tissue had been sent to Italy for further examination.
The exercise, according to the Military Hospital, was to determine whether the 38-year-old woman gave birth to twins, which created a vortex of interest among Ghanaians.