Newborn Baby Goes Missing at Salaga Hospital; Police Detain Nurse on Duty

A disturbing incident at the Salaga Municipal Hospital in Ghana’s Savannah Region has left a family in anguish and a community on edge, after a newborn baby girl vanished from the maternity ward just hours after delivery.

The disappearance, which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, has prompted police to detain the nurse who was on duty at the time. The family of the missing child has vowed to resist any attempt to grant bail until the baby is found, deepening a standoff that has cast a harsh spotlight on patient safety protocols at the facility.

A Delivery Turned Nightmare

According to accounts from the family, Kofi Simon’s wife Priscilla was admitted to the hospital at approximately 3:00 a.m. while in labour. She successfully delivered a baby girl between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., and was briefly shown the child. For a few hopeful moments, all appeared well.

But the family’s relief quickly gave way to alarm. Balik Majik Ebenezer, the brother of the child’s father, told journalists that relatives were repeatedly prevented from seeing the newborn. “On several attempts to go and have a look at the baby, the nurses did not allow them,” he recounted.

The situation escalated when Priscilla was transferred to the postnatal ward without her baby. When family members went to the maternity ward to locate the child, they were met with confusion. The nurse on duty reportedly said she believed the mother had taken the baby out for breastfeeding. When the nurse checked, she confirmed the child was not there.

Police Investigation Underway

The family immediately reported the matter to the Salaga Police Station, leading to the detention of the nurse on duty. Ebenezer said colleagues of the detained nurse later visited the police station seeking to secure her release on bail, a request the family firmly opposes.

“They want to bail their colleague, but the child has still not been found. We have not heard anything about the child up to now. We believe that until we see our child, the nurse should not be granted bail,” he stated.

Police have confirmed that investigations are ongoing. Officers told the family they had taken steps to block possible routes through which the child could have been removed from the hospital, though no breakthrough had been reported at the time of filing.

Broader Questions About Hospital Security

The incident raises deeply uncomfortable questions about security and accountability at public health facilities in Ghana’s northern regions. The family alleges that even the baby’s grandmother and father were denied access to the newborn, a claim that, if verified, suggests a serious breakdown in communication and oversight at the maternity ward.

For a region that already faces significant healthcare challenges, including staffing shortages and limited infrastructure, the disappearance of a newborn from a government hospital is a crisis that demands urgent, transparent investigation.

As the search continues, the Salaga community waits for answers, and a family waits for the safe return of a child they held only briefly before she was taken away.

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