Islanders Magazine

HOSPITAL DETAINS NEWBORN TRIPLETS, THEIR MOTHER OVER MEDICAL BILL

A new mother is presently being detained alongside her newborn triplets in a hospital(name withheld) in Asaba, the Delta State Capital after failing to pay N723,100.00 (Seven hundred and twenty-three thousand one hundred naira) medical bill.

The mother, Mrs. Echenim, a graduate of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State delivered  triplets at the hospital in July, and is held there owing to her family’s inability to pay the N723 thousand medical bill.

Information at hand shows that the new mother was supposed to be discharged in July but she was barred from leaving the ward after her husband could not settle the bill.

The triplets’ father, Mr. Godswill Echenim, told newsmen that he took his wife to the private clinic (name withheld) due to the prolong strike by doctors under the aegis of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in public hospitals.

Echenim, a fashion designer in Owa-Alero in Ika North East Local Government Area of the state, said the medical bill was too much for his family to bear and appealed to the government and good spirited individuals to come to his aid.

“For about seven weeks, since the kids were delivered, we have been in this hospital. I had registered my wife for ante-natal at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, but because of the strike by doctors, I brought her here for the delivery.

“The kids were delivered through caesarean section and were taken to the incubator where they spent over one month before their discharge. Now, the bill has come up to N723,100.00 and still running because we are still there.

“So, I am appealing to the government and the general public for help, so that I can bring up my babies in the way of God. We have spent over N60,000 on the nurse who was taking care of the babies at night.

“I have started buying food for them and they take a tin of food for three days. We buy pampers for N1,500.00, which lasts for just three days.

“This is besides the drugs we have bought. It is just too much for us, we need help from the public.” Echenim said.

He said the triplets were his first set of children since he got married over five years ago, adding that his wife had remained jobless after her graduation from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State.