Detained in the hospital: Unsettled bills keep nursing mothers in health facility, weeks after delivery

By Daniel Anokwuru

The expectation of every couple after marriage is usually a child. The joy of every relationship becomes stronger once the couple is able to conceive. Failure to give birth have separated many homes.

But for Mrs. Igbokwe Ijeoma and Mrs. Uwagwu Lorita, their joy has been truncated, owing to their inability to offset their hospital bills. The two mothers delivered their babies at Ilogbo Central Hospital in Ajangbadi area of Lagos State, through cesarean section. They were rushed to the facility when they had complications at their former place, where they had registered for antenatal.

Though still trapped, however, they maintained that they appreciated the effort of the hospital in saving their lives, without putting money first, as is the tradition of some other hospitals.

Mrs. Igbokwe Ijeoma, from Obowo, in Imo State, said she was delivered of her baby four weeks ago. She stressed that though she lost the child, who was supposed to be her fourth child, she still thanked God and the hospital that she is alive. She explained that their problem was compounded by her husband’s loss his job, making the family to living from hand to mouth since then.

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Life is also difficult for the second woman, Mrs. Uwagwu Lorita, who is from Mbaitolu in Imo State but married to a man from Enugu State. She was delivered of a baby boy. She noted that they never envisaged the fate that had befallen them.

Irrespective of being trapped in the hospital, her baby lay in his bed, smiling, oblivious of his poor mother’s fate.

Both mothers owe the hospital N 150,000 each,  which they do not have hope of offsetting soon.

A senior manager of the hospital, who preffered not to be identified, told the reporter that their tradition is to always protect life first before demanding for money. He noted that the director of the had warned the doctors to never reject any patient because of money.

He added that the mothers were rushed to their facility when they developed complications during labour, at their former place of registration and urged all expectant mothers to shun the tradition of registering with traditional homes, instead of a qualified hospital.

He noted that the money they were trying to save by patronising traditional homes is not better than their life. He disclosed that the hospital management had on several occasions in the past, freed many mothers, who delivered and could not pay their bills, regretting that it is having effect on the finance of the hospital, as they need to replace their drugs to enable them serve their patients better.

The mothers are calling on kind hearted Nigerians to come to their aid.