By Rachel Kakraba
It is the expectation of every pregnant mother to return home with a newborn after safe delivery. The joy one feels after safe delivery knows no bounds. Unfortunately, about four months ago, that expected joy of a mother quickly turned into distress and disbelief following the disappearance of a newborn at the Mamprobi Hospital in Accra. The shock, community agitation, public backlash, swift investigation, and subsequent arrest of the suspect brought some relief and prevented what could have become another statistic in Ghana’s infant abduction cases. It was good news having the baby reunited with the family. However, the development is one that could undermine public confidence in the hospital’s maternal healthcare and elsewhere across the country. Months after the incident, the news team revisited the matter for lessons drawn to strengthen hospital security.
Global concern
The cry of a baby brings so much joy to parents, families, communities and the country at large. But this joy could be cut short with the sudden disappearance of the baby. Infant abduction or stolen baby refers to any capture of a child under the age of one. This can take various forms, from a noncustodial parent abducting the infant, to a stranger capturing the child from the hospital, home, or a public place. This remains a global concern. In the United States, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimates that 345 healthcare-related infant abductions were recorded between 1964 and January 2025. Of those abducted children, 140 were taken from healthcare facilities, 152 from the home, and 49 were abducted in other locations, with 16 of those under six months of age still missing.
In 2018, Nigerian authorities reportedly rescued more than 160 babies held in unregistered orphanages.
In South Africa, the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit reported the abduction of a one-week-old baby, Shamar.
Infant abductions: the case of Ghana
Ghana has also recorded some cases of baby theft and newborn abductions over the years. In 2011, multiple nurses and attendants were questioned after a baby went missing from a clinic in Accra. In 2021, a 45-year-old woman was jailed for six years for stealing a baby from the Kumasi South Government Hospital. Two separate newborn theft incidents were reported at the Agogo Presbyterian and Tamale Teaching hospitals in 2025.
Mamprobi Hospital baby abduction incident
The most recent case occurred at the Mamprobi Hospital, located in the Ablekuma South District of the Greater Accra Region, where in February this year, a 33-year-old woman, Latifa Iddrisu, was alleged to have abducted a baby while dressed as a nurse. She was captured on the facility’s CCTV cameras carrying the infant and leaving the premises with what appeared to be a sack. The footage later circulated widely on social media, leading to her arrest and prosecution. The baby was subsequently reunited with the parents.
Follow-up visit
The news team returned to the facility to assess how maternal health services are shaping up following the baby abduction incident, which sparked widespread public concern. The visit was also to understand some of the measures management is implementing to restore public confidence in the hospital.
Speaking to GBCGhanaOnline, Dr. Henrietta Fiscian Bannor, Acting Medical Superintendent, recounted that the incident led to a sharp decline in antenatal services.
“It occurred on the postnatal ward after the woman had delivered the baby. So the main concern was at our reproductive health clinic and antenatal clinics. Before the incident, we could get between 10 to 20 registrants on a daily basis. But for that first week after the news broke, it dropped to as low as five. But now I’m happy to say that we are back to full force and operating.”
Dr. Bannor also recalled the emotional and psychological impact the incident had on staff, hence some psychological support was given.
“When you go out of your way to do the best for your clients and some of these setbacks come, it makes staff morale go down. There was a lot of feedback, all sorts of comments. So we had to get some psychological help or some form of counselling for the staff who were involved and also especially for the mother.”
Improved security
Dr. Bannor said the incident exposed critical security gaps which have since been addressed. These include strengthened ward access controls, improved staff identification systems, and security sensitisation sessions for all clients.
“You know the typical Ghanaian, once you have that appearance of a healthcare worker, they trust you. But we’ve told them that once in a while you may find an imposter. So what we have done as a facility, everybody must be in their appropriate uniform, and you must see their name tag.”
Adding on, “We had cameras, but we realised that we need more of those cameras, which we have worked on. As part of their care, when they come to the OPD, there’s a talk on being security conscious, because if you listen to the woman’s story, what happened was that somebody picked her baby to give medication. But if we’re picking your baby to give medication, you must be curious, because usually the medications will be given in your presence.”
Some expectant mothers and their partners who confirmed these reforms shared a mix of trust and unease.
“I have noticed many changes since the incident and these improvements are reassuring,” one said.
Another woman said, “All three of my children were delivered at this hospital. I believe security should be strengthened to prevent anything like this from happening again.”
“I will encourage pregnant women to remain very vigilant because sometimes it may not even be a case of a baby being stolen, but babies being switched. Nurses must also be more alert,” another pregnant woman said.
Hospital lauded for proactiveness
Greater Accra Regional Health Director, Dr. Robert Amesiya, commended management of the Mamprobi Hospital for installing surveillance cameras which facilitated investigations and the arrest. He noted that hospitals have become open spaces because care requires the support of families, which sometimes predisposes facilities to such unfortunate situations.
“It’s not like in the Western world, so we can’t prevent people from visiting hospitals. But we can put in place measures that will reduce or eliminate these kinds of things. And one of the measures is what the hospital did by installing CCTV cameras.”
Calls for robust security systems in hospitals
Incidents of baby abduction in Ghana have become too many, hence the need to enquire from an expert whether such situations could be avoided across health facilities. Mr. Richard Kumadoe, a Fraud Prevention and Security Consultant, believes until security is fully integrated as a core component of healthcare delivery, such incidents may persist.
“Many of the security depots or the security units are non-functional because of how security functions have been integrated into hospital administrative duties.”
“Until we educate hospital administrators and create awareness for nurses and all persons who work within these hospitals, some of these lapses may allow other people to also have access and walk away with other people’s babies,” he added.
Investing in technologies
Admittedly, surveillance cameras mounted at the Mamprobi Hospital aided in the rescue of the baby, reinforcing confidence in robust technological systems. The question that lingers therefore is whether there are technologies that health facilities could leverage to address some of these challenges. David Gyedu, popularly known as DKCyber, a Cyber Security Expert and Director of Cyber1Defense Communications Ltd, provided some options.
“Technologies like infant anti-tamper tags can be attached to the newborn’s leg and when the child moves to an unauthorised zone it creates an alarm. If somebody tries to tamper with that tag, it also sends an alarm to a control system or triggers an alarm.”
He further recommended smart maternity ward access control systems.
“We can also have smart maternity ward access control systems which are very important. You should be able to monitor, guide, and also know the people who come into the maternity ward.”
Mr. Gyedu added, “We should have functional CCTV, properly monitored. These are not things that we cannot do. Countries in Africa, including South Africa and Kenya, already use them. When you go to the Western world, they monitor such facilities.”
He stated that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could also be leveraged for improved security to prevent infant abduction cases.
Privacy concerns
Responding to privacy concerns, Mr. Gyedu said installation of such devices could be done strategically.
“I’m not saying go and put up a camera while a woman is delivering or put a camera in the theatre room. That is not allowed. But you can put a camera at the entrance to the ward so that we know people who go into the ward, and we can also be guided on how to install these surveillance devices.”
Calls for policy review
Mr. Kumadoe called for a national policy review of security arrangements across government and public health facilities.
“This is just one hospital; we don’t know what goes on in some other hospitals. There will be the need for a nationwide review, not just government hospitals but private hospitals as well. We want to know who comes in, who goes out, what they came to do, and who they came with. That is also a way of accountability.”
About Mamprobi Hospital
Established in the 1960s as Mamprobi Polyclinic, the facility was upgraded in 2020 to a hospital. It runs 24-hour services with emergency care, maternal, dental, ophthalmology, and other support services. It attracted headlines earlier this year following a baby abduction incident.
Reassurance of improved security
Dr. Henrietta Fiscian Bannor, Acting Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said lessons drawn from the February incident have resulted in enhanced security, assuring the public to be confident in seeking care at the facility.
She added that security assertiveness is a shared responsibility that clients must also demonstrate at all times.
“If you have an individual who seems to be a bit suspicious and dodgy, you are free to ask questions and you must be satisfied with what is going on here. Staff are also on the alert and safety is assured.”
