A woman who just gave birth through a caesarean section has died along with the newborn in a hospital in Akwa Ibom State, South-south of Nigeria.
The incident happened at the Akwa Ibom government-owned General Hospital, Ikot Ekpene. Although the woman’s name and the date of the incident are unknown, for now, it appears it happened on Saturday night.
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The Akwa Ibom State Government confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, 31 August.
The Commissioner for Health in the state, Ekem John, said in the statement that the government’s attention was drawn to a video of the incident posted on Facebook.
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He said the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, directed him to set up a “commission of inquiry, comprising medical and legal experts, to establish the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident and recommend measures to prevent future occurrences”.
Mr John, a medical doctor, said in line with the governor’s directive, he “led a team from the Ministry of Health to the hospital at 12:10 a.m. for an on-the-spot preliminary inquiry and to obtain firsthand accounts from relevant stakeholders”.
He assured the public that the government would be transparent in its investigation and that “verified cases of negligence will attract appropriate sanction in line with civil service and professional regulations”. He appealed for calm.
‘My sister has died’
A video clip circulating on Facebook shows a weeping woman, who says she is a sister of the deceased. She is accusing the hospital of negligence.
“My sister has died. There were no doctors here. They didn’t open the theatre, my sister was unattended to, for over three hours,” the woman cried, while calling on Governor Eno to intervene in the case.
“When they finally operated on her, the baby died. Two minutes after the baby died, I begged the doctor to have blood available in case of another emergency (in the woman’s situation), but they ignored me because I am not a doctor or a nurse. In those dying minutes, they now looked for another pint of blood; they did not see it (blood) in the whole of this hospital.
“The doctors neglected my sister, and she died.”
Another woman narrates similar experience
A Facebook user, Belle Jokidem, said on Sunday on the social media site that doctors and other hospital workers similarly neglected her pregnant sister at the same Ikot Ekpene General Hospital in 2013.
“I personally witnessed the unprofessional behaviour at the General Hospital, Ikot Ekpene. On May 27, 2013, my sister was in labour, and we rushed her there. To our surprise, the hospital was deserted, with no staff at the gate or doctors available. One nurse finally attended to us, and we were told a doctor on call needed to sign for my sister’s transfer to the labour ward. However, the nurse claimed the doctor wasn’t available, and we couldn’t get their contact information.
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“Fortunately, my brother-in-law’s uncle, a senator, arrived within 30 minutes, and the nurse suddenly became more responsive. The senator contacted the doctor on duty, who arrived promptly. Despite this, my sister remained in labour for two days, with nurses repeatedly saying she was at 3 centimetres of dilation. No doctor checked her, and eventually, my father had her discharged and taken to a private hospital, where she delivered a baby.”
Nigeria faces an acute shortage of doctors and other health workers, as many of them prefer to work abroad for better pay and living conditions.
In many states in Nigeria, the few doctors in government hospitals also own and run private medical facilities.
“Allegedly, many spend most of their working hours at the private hospitals while still collecting government salaries,” the Facebook user, Belle, wrote.
“It’s appalling that some medical professionals neglect their responsibilities. If they’re not willing or able to perform their duties, they should resign. Government hospitals often face such issues, and it’s high time for accountability and reform,” she added.
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