Chinwe with the baby
Three months after Babatunde Williams’s
wife, Chinwe, gave birth to a baby boy through a caesarean section; the
couple has remained stranded in a private hospital in the Surulere area
of Lagos State.
It was learnt that the hospital, Midas
Touch Clinic, had stopped attending to the baby’s mother because the
family had yet to pay about N500,000 bill incurred so far.
Our correspondent gathered that
30-year-old Chinwe, who hails from Imo State, had been on admission in
the hospital since October 13, 2014.
It was learnt that after the caesarean
section, the woman underwent another surgery when she continued to bleed
days after the birth.
Rev4mation's World gathered that the
hospital charged N300,000 for the two surgeries while charges for
accommodation, nursing care, and discharge as of December 15, 2014 stood
at N172,000.
The
bills read in part, “As of October 10, 2014: Surgeries N300,000;
discharge N32,000. As of November 28, 2014: Second discharge, N80,500;
accommodation, N34,000 and nursing care, N25,500.”
Our correspondent learnt that the
hospital, since last Saturday, stopped attending to the nursing mother
when there was no sign that the bills would be settled.
Chinwe said, “As I speak with you, the
wound in the aftermath of the operations is still there. I am so weak
that I cannot breastfeed my baby. We used to buy baby milk for him, but
we have resorted to giving him pap when we could no longer afford the
milk.
“Families and friends have tried their
best, but it seems they have given up on us because they are no longer
coming. The doctor stopped treating me because of the debt that keeps
increasing. All my capital as a trader is exhausted.”
Williams, an engineer, said he had been
sacked by the company he was working for because caring for his wife
took part of the company’s time. He added that Chinwe’s stomach swelled
up after the surgeries.
He said, “He lost about six pints of
blood, which I bought for N14,000 per pint. I am always with her to see
how she fares. In fact, our first child sleeps with us here in the
hospital. I lost my job when I did not show up in the office after 10
days. I am fed up. God have mercy on us.”
Williams added that although the hospital manager had been kind to him, he was now under pressure to pay the bill.
“The manager has really tried for us. But
when he realised that his money was not forthcoming, he ordered his
workers to stop treating her,” he added.
Speaking to PUNCH Metro on the
telephone, the manager of the hospital, Dr. Tola Fasaye, said he ordered
the nurses to stop treating the patient to hasten the payment.
Fasaye said he had done a lot to assist the couple, adding that he was cash-strapped.
He said “The patient was referred to this
hospital when her condition was critical. We just had to save her life
first even though her husband did not deposit a dime. After the
caesarean section, we discovered that she had perforated uterus. Even
the blood she used, I personally borrowed money to buy them before he
(Williams) paid me back.
“I had to borrow money to pay the
surgeons. I told nurses to stop the dressing of the wound because the
husband is proving smart. I know he does not have money, but he should
go out and look for money to pay the bills.
“I owe my staff salaries and I need to pay them. But now, on humanitarian ground, I will tell my staff to dress her wound.”
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