Midwives Face Fear and New Challenges as the Coronavirus Spreads in Africa

May 13, 2020

(CNN) – When midwife Philomena Owusu Domfe gets up for work every day she is scared. Domfe has been at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, for eight years. Now each day she shows up to work, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in her country grows.  Ghana had more than 4,200 confirmed cases and 22 deaths resulting from the virus as of May 12. And while social distancing is prescribed by the World Health Organization as a key defense against the spread of Covid-19, Domfe said it’s difficult when proximity with her patients and their newborns is a job requirement.