June 07, 2017
A Consultant Family Medicine and Obstetrics, Dr. Omoniyi Adebisi, has urged Nigerians whose relatives die as a result of negligence to seek redress in court.
Adebisi, who is sponsoring free deliveries and surgeries for pregnant women in Osun State, said this on Monday, at a seminar organised for journalists to drum support for safe deliveries in Nigeria.
The United States-based consultant said the maternal death figure of 814 deaths per 100,000 live births in the country was unacceptable, saying government, hospitals as well as individuals must rise to stem the tide.
He stated that the maternal and child mortality rates could compare favourably with those in some war-ravaged countries.
He blamed some of the deaths on ignorance, negligence on the part of hospitals and lack of equipment and personnel in hospitals which he blamed on lack of commitment to health matters by the government.
A graduate of Microbiology and Virology from Federal University of Technology, Akure, Mr. Abdulateef Bashir, narrated how his wife, Mujidat, who gave birth to a set of twins died as a result of post-operative complications.
Bashir told the gathering that he took his wife back to the health centre where she was registered for the ante-natal programme when she started bleeding after the delivery.
He said, “We took her back to the Comprehensive Health Centre here in Osogbo and they examined her and referred her to Jolayemi Hopsital. We got there, the doctors read the referral letter and asked us to take her to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo. We got to LAUTECH and they told us that just two of the hospital’s life support machines were functional and the two were already being used for some patients.
“They asked us to take her to Wesley Hospital, Ilesa. The doctor at Wesley asked us to take her to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife; the same thing happened there and they asked us to take her to the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital, Ile-Ife.
“It was during the period of Hausa/Yoruba crisis in Ife and we were checked by the security personnel at various check points mounted on the road. At the Seventh Day Adventist, Hospital, Ife, they admitted her. The hospital just admitted her to stabilise her so that they would ask us to take her to the University College Hospital, Ibadan the following morning but she died around 6am.”
A professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Olabisi Loto, said bleeding after delivery, infection and hypertension during pregnancy were some of the causes of maternal death.
He advised women against giving birth after age 35 except those who had never been delivered of any child. He said underage pregnancy was also risky because the pelvics of girls involved would not have fully developed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment