A man, Jeremiah Akinsetemi, has accused the management and medical practitioners at the Faith-Hills Specialist Hospital of negligence resulting in the death of his wife, Rachael, who delivered a baby at the hospital in Egbeda in the Egbeda-Akowonjo LCDA of Alimosho LGA.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Akinsetemi, who works at a factory as a technical operator, returned home from work on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, met his nine-month pregnant wife writhing in labour pain, and rushed her to a nearby hospital.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, Akinsetemi said while at the hospital, some medical practitioners assessed his wife’s condition and admitted her to facilitate the baby’s delivery.
He said, “I met the doctor, who directed us to the gynaecologist. We also met with the hospital’s MD, who asked us to do a scan, and the result indicated that she was 40 weeks plus some days, and she was placed on observation in the hospital.
“Later on, they said my wife’s cervix was not open yet and that it has to be open for her to give birth. To soften her cervix, they inserted something inside her but her cervix did not open."
The bereaved husband said things, however, took another turn when the Managing Director of the hospital said there was a need for a surgical operation to be performed on his wife for the sake of the baby, adding that because of the gynaecologist's advice, he left the hospital and took his wife to the Faith-Hills Specialist Hospital.
He said, “I discussed it with my wife, told her they are professionals and that since her cervix was not opening and she is feeling pains that deprived her of sleeping, I needed to sign the papers. I signed the papers, and in less than 10 minutes, she delivered by herself without the surgery.
“I met them cleaning up the baby and also observed that my wife was bleeding, and they were transfusing a pint of blood into her. But as I saw the rate at which the blood was flowing into my wife, I asked the nurse if that was the only pint of blood the hospital had, and she said yes.”
Akinsetemi said the medical practitioners told her that they already called the blood bank for more blood, adding that when they could not get any blood, he informed his neighbour, Rolint Ugele, who is a universal donor, and he agreed to donate blood for his wife.
He said, “The pint of blood they were giving her had finished and blood was rushing out. I complained and they said she would be fine and that they had called for an ambulance. When the ambulance came, we carried her into it as she was on oxygen. But before we got to Ayinke House in LASUTH, she stopped breathing.
The Managing Director of the Faith-Hills Specialist Hospital where Rachael delivered her baby, Dr Lilian Obianuju while reacting to the development, said Rachael presented at the hospital with a reduction in fetal movement, adding that despite informing her and her husband that a Caesarean Section was needed to be performed to bring out the baby and save her life, the couple declined and left the hospital on February 10.
