Midwife | Entrepreneur | Health Advocate |
Philanthropist | P.R.O National Association of Registered Midwives Ghana | Brand Ambassador Plexacity
I am Rosetta Ntriwaah Boakye from Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana. I am a qualified registered Midwife in Ghana and a student of the Lora Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, South Africa.
I lost my mum at a tender age so I grew up with my uncle with his beautiful family of four siblings and his wife at Kade also in the Eastern Region of Ghana. I always wanted to be a lawyer growing up but the untimely death of my mother and other siblings she lost before giving birth to me changed my passion and direction in life so I ended up becoming a midwife.
My mother died a few years after she gave birth to me and I later got to know the cause of her demise because of prolonged birth complications. Meanwhile, she lost all the children she gave birth to and I am the only one who survived. All the information that surrounded her death gave me the drive and the passion to save lives because I found it unfair that women died of avoidable birth complications. Growing up in a strong Christian home, I was taught that one has to involve God in everything he or she does if they want to go far in this life.
What are some of the biggest initial hurdles and how did you overcome them?
After midwifery school, I realized that I took passion in educating mothers on their conditions. All the pros and cons of their actions and I made sure I gave them informed choices to choose from as much as I try my best to explain so they make the good and important decisions that will save their lives. My colleagues and superiors at work will always call me whenever there is a difficulty in handling a client or whenever pregnant mothers are supposed to be counselled or educated on certain issues. Hence, they always say “Call Rosette”, and refer to the women to tell their problems to me and that was where I picked my social media name “Tell it to Rosett”
I realized that, lack of a little information could affect one’s life just like it happened to my mother. Information I say is very powerful, the right information when given out can save lives while the little bad ones when said without caution can be drastic in killing a patient. This is what encouraged me to create an educational social media platform which I named “Tell it to Rosett” with the sole aim of educating pregnant women to help reduce maternal mortality in Ghana and beyond.
I later realized social media was useful but limited to other people so I started advocacy on maternal and child health in churches, media houses, schools and denominational meetings including conferences. Over the past years midwifery was practised by traditional birth attendants but today Midwives in Ghana especially, give care from preconception, antenatal, delivery, postnatal and family planning including reproductive and sexual health. I had to break the normality by taking midwifery to a different level. I added advocacy, home visiting, and screening of pregnant women. Now, I am recognized as a resource person by the Ghana Health Service (G.H.S) through the Greater Accra chapter and this has helped me gain recognition by T.V and radio stations all over Ghana as well as reach out to a lot of people globally.
I am proud to say that over the past three years I have been one of the solid pillars who have helped reduce maternal mortality and neonatal mortality in Ghana and beyond. People sometimes wonder how I am able to go about all my duties as a Midwife on the ward, a Brand Ambassador, serving as the P.R.O for the Registered Midwives Association of Ghana as well as being an Entrepreneur and still manage my home as a wife and a mother. Although it has not been easy, I have grown to know that when one does not see what they do to gain ends meet as work but rather as service to humanity it becomes so easy, comfortable and very accommodating even though challenges are inevitable. Moreover, when you have passion and love for what you do, you will never work once in your life.
The maternal mortality rate in Ghana have seen an immense decline in deaths, from 15.8 per 1000 people in 1971 to 7.1 per 1000 people in 2020 due to several factors such as the robust systems put in place for safe pregnancy and delivery of which includes advocacy and I count myself as one of the people contributing a lot to this success through the extra work I do in Midwifery in Ghana, which I can gladly say is achieving its intended purpose and I have gained several recognitions.
Which books are you reading currently?
I am currently reading the following books and in case you come across any of them, do not hesitate to go for them because they are enriched with much information.
Reset your mindset for success by DINGAAN RAHLAPANE
Nurturing the leader within your child by
DR. TIM ELMORE
JOHN C. MAXWELL
What advice would you give to an upcoming youth or talents locally or internationally?
Never allow bad moments define you as an individual because bad moments are not meant to derail you but rather motivate you to work harder towards your dreams and aspirations since your destiny is defined by how involved you are in each moment of your work. Live in the present and give your best at all times.
Social Media Handles:
Facebook: Tell it to Rosett
Instagram: Tellittorosett
YouTube: Tell it to Rosett
Email: amarosetta@gmail.com