Hospital negligence and incompetence of health workers are part of the leading causes of high maternal mortality during childbirth in Nigeria is that no one talks about.
Negligence and incompetence of some medical personnel have killed many women and babies yet, no one holds these professionals responsible.
The family of the bereaved just suckle their wounds, pay the huge hospital bills and bury their dead.
I believe there should be a body that monitors these hospitals, a body we can lay proper complaints to that will take the required action.
A pregnant woman who died during childbirth in May 2022 was operated on by incompetent medical doctors without good equipments and proper supervision.
Talking about the negligence and incompetence of some health workers.
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If you don’t have the necessary equipment to conduct a c-section, kindly refer the patient to another hospital before it escalates.
This is why I always advise expecting couples to register with 2 hospitals (I federal medical centre and 1 private hospital closest to you).
To successfully curb the high maternal mortality during childbirth requires the collective effort of every individual (by getting them enlightened), the doctors and health workers (by getting them more competent, enlightened and trained) then the government (by getting our health sector well equipped, regulating the happenings in the hospitals and prioritising pregnant women).
The husband of the lady who died while giving birth due to health workers’ negligence and incompetence in his confession said that his wife was allowed to labour for more than necessary and they were not briefed initially about having a c-section.
If every man and woman who desires to have a family can be educated on the delivery options available, this will go a long way to reducing cases of emergency during childbirth thereby reducing the high maternal mortality as more families will prepare for both delivery options and not wait for things to escalate out of ignorance.
This is the solution my book “I Am Not A Hebrew Woman All I Want Is Safe Delivery” brings to society.
Bridging the knowledge gap between the hospitals and individuals in Africa to curb the high maternal mortality and mitigate the stigma of cesarean section moms through the Safe Delivery Movement.
The husband of the deceased said that the surgery was done without proper communication, equipment and supervision. There was no blood on ground before the surgery and they were not informed to buy or donate before the commencement of the operation.
It was when the woman started bleeding that the health workers remembered they needed the family to buy or donate blood.
Who does that?
We will play the live confession of the man during Safe Child-Bearing Movement Show on ADN Radio Station.
Arike Ade, a victim of Hospital Negligence in Nigeria took to her Facebook wall to share her experience.
Read it here…
“One of the things I fear the most is hospital negligence cos you’ll go with one problem and come back with something bigger.
When I was pregnant, I never missed any appointment. Not one. But one thing I noticed is the non-chalant attitude of the staff of the hospital. They were so much interested in money than health.
They never taught me anything. Not even one. Like no lessons. Not even what to eat or how to sleep. I was just asking people a lot of questions. Just scan and tests.
Sometimes I’ll be the one to remind them of tests they are supposed to run that I’ve paid for.
First, they only gave me one tetanus injection, throughout the duration of the Pregnancy. Only one. I was already 38 weeks when I read that I was supposed to have collected twice at least.
Then they only gave me malarial drugs once throughout the Pregnancy. The preventive one they gave me.
I was the one that reminded them to do Oral Glucose Tolerance Test for me cos I read up on it and realized I needed it. They did it.
The lab attendant was calling someone to ask her how she’ll do it.
Then fast forward to when I was 39 weeks, they kept saying I was 37 weeks. I argued and argued. They said it was 37 weeks. I gave birth that same week. Imagine if I was like 41 weeks, it would have been 43 weeks and they’ll be saying 41.
Then on the day I delivered, they were supposed to tear me. They could see the baby was big. They didn’t. Madam came and tore me in several places. I was inside the labour room for over two hours bleeding uncontrollably. They handled that one and instead of doing PCV for me before I was discharged, they didn’t.
I kept feeling weaker and weaker instead of getting better so my mum suggested we tried another hospital. What tests read was bad. I have a PCV of 22 and I was walking up and down. There were also issues detected after the urinalysis they should have detected. We dealt with that.
Exactly 18 days postpartum, I was bathing my baby when I started seeing blood gush down my legs with big blood clots. This hospital was nearer so my husband suggested they rush me there as against FMC which I would have preferred. We got there and it turned out that they left placenta residue in my womb they didn’t fully remove. They were just so casual about it like it wasn’t their problem in the first place and charged us 100,000 for its removal.
I was so livid but my husband kept saying life first.
Omo, story long but it’s one thing to be sick, it’s another thing to meet doctors and nurses that know what they are doing because they can just kill you for nothing.
It was a very horrible experience for me considering I was also diagnosed for Post Partum Depression. I don’t even know whether I want to do all of this again. I just make jokes to make myself feel better about the process.”
The story of Arike is the fate of most pregnant women living in Nigeria, sadly, there is no known body we can complain to.
I strongly advise individuals to read and acknowledge knowledge about pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery instead of waiting for the hospitals to teach them.
In a case where these health workers do not teach these women what they need to know about the changes happening in their bodies and the medications given to them, anything can happen and these hospitals will take responsibility for their negligence.
This is why my book, “I Am Not A Hebrew Woman All I Want Is Safe Delivery” is a must-read by every individual who hopes to raise a family and experience the wonders of childbirth.
Also, grab a copy of my book and donate copies to those around you let’s curb the high maternal mortality during childbirth in Africa.
Connect with me on my social media handles to access my free teachings on pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and ways to curb maternal mortality via @Abel Abigail David-Utah on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Send an email to safedeliverymovement @gmail.com to share your thoughts and experience.
To buy and donate copies of my book, send me a direct message on WhatsApp using +2348038411663.
Let us collectively curb the high maternal mortality during childbirth.
Listen to the podcast on this topic here