Fathers in 20 occupations were responsible for eight out of every 10 of all births registered at the Births and Deaths Registry in 2022, the registry has revealed in a report.
The 20 occupations of the fathers who are responsible for 82.2 per cent of the 677,140 births registered in 2022 has farmers registering the single largest births of 28.2 per cent, with the lowest number of births of 0.6 per cent being registered in the name of policemen.
In between, 10.3 per cent of births were recorded in the name of fathers who are traders, with drivers recording 10.1 per cent births, teachers with 5.7 per cent, businessmen with 5.4 per cent and masons with 4.9 per cent.
Fathers who are carpenters and auto mechanics were responsible for 2.5 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively of all infant births recorded in 2022, the Births and Deaths Statistical Report 2022, the first official release, stated.
The statistical report launched in Accra last Thursday also indicated that miners, public/civil servants, students, electricians, welders and doctors were responsible for between 1.9 per cent and one per cent of all infant registered births.
The Head of Statistics, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Births and Death Registry, Constance Clara Anani, who presented the summary of the report at the launch in Accra, said tailors, fishermen, reverend ministers, bankers and accountants accounted for between 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent of the total births registered.
On the average, 1,855 births were registered daily across the country during the period under review.
Mrs Anani stated that the births registration performance for 2022 was 92.7 per cent against the projected 730,537 infant population, using the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) for its projection.
She noted that approximately seven per cent of the expected births for 2022 remained unregistered.
Other African countries
The births and deaths report also indicated that 4,738 men from other African countries fathered 0.7 per cent of the total infant births registered.
Nigerian fathers led the chart with 46.7 per cent, with Togolese fathers accounting for 17.8 per cent, Gabonese responsible for 0.7 per cent of the top 10 fathers who were other African nationals.
Out of the registered infants, 1,741 (0.3%) have fathers with nationalities outside Africa.
Monthly births ranking
The report indicated that the Births and Deaths Registry registered 677,140 births in all of its offices across the country. However, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) recorded 792,727 births in health facilities in the country.
The months of May and April recorded the highest births in the country in 2022. The report indicates that 9.8 per cent of all infant births recorded in that year were born in May with 9.3 per cent being born in April , those born in June placing third at 9.1 per cent of all births recorded.
Nearly nine out of 10 registered births or 88.2 per cent occurred in health facilities, against 11.8 per cent non-health facility births, a feat the country should continue to devote resources to build upon.
When distributed across days the infants born on Thursday had the highest proportion of 15.4 per cent, followed closely by Wednesday borns with 15 per cent and Tuesday borns with 14.9 per cent.
Sunday had the least number of registered births of 12.9 per cent, beaten to it by Friday with 14.5 per cent. Monday has 13.9 per cent and Saturday has 13.3 per cent.
Teenage mothers
The report further revealed that seven per cent of registered infants were born to teenage mothers aged 19 years or below.
The North East Region has the highest number of teenage mothers with 12.2 per cent, followed by the Oti Region with 12 per cent, Western North with 11.5 per cent, the Central Region with 10.6 per cent, with the Ashanti Region recording the least number of teenage mothers of 1.8 per cent.
The Bono and Greater Accra regions have teenage mothers less than the national average of seven per cent.
Background
The term ‘infant births’ is used because on the average babies get registered within 146 days or five months after delivery.
Births registered after 90 days of the event amount to 62 per cent, with those registered within 90 days accounting for 38 per cent of the births.
The report also pointed out that 2,099 of all registered births have doubtful paternity cases, which are situations in which the identity of the father is not known.
The Upper East Region has the highest percentage (0.8 per cent) of doubtful paternity cases, followed by the Central Region with 0.7 per cent.