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The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has begun discharging newborns and their mothers following a directive from the Minister of Health, Sherry Ayittey. The Minister on Monday ordered the hospital to discharge mothers who had been detained in the hospital for weeks due to their failure to pay their medical billS after delivery. According to the hospital�s records, the women who number about 12 were either not registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) or could not afford the fees for processing blood which is s requirement before delivery. Others also could not provide donors to replace the blood taken from the blood bank. But Public Relations Officer at the hospital, Mustapha Salifu told Citi News, seven of the women have so far been discharged following the Ministers directive. �They are about 12 and at the moment, seven of them have already left the hospital and we a processing the rest so they can leave,� he explained. The Minister�s directive forms part of efforts to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in Ghana. It is also to allow pregnant women who are due for delivery to get access to bed facilities and proper medical care at the hospital since the situation was causing congestion.