Six food vendors, cab drivers and motorists struggling to buy fuel were among the people who delivered a woman of a baby boy in the Anthony area of Lagos State.
The pregnant trader, Adetola Ayodele, was in a BRT bus with her husband and two children, en route to a hospital in Oshodi when she went into labour.
The driver was said to have dropped off the family at the Anthony junction, so they could get a taxi to take Adetola to the nearest hospital.
However, the urgency of the situation and the delay of the Lagos State Ambulance Service, which had been alerted to the situation, made some residents to deliver the baby.
A food seller who led the team, Iya Ibeji, said she was in her canteen when people called her attention to the matter.
She said she organised five other women who surrounded the mother of two and used some wrappers to form a shield around her.
She said, “I was in my canteen when people started calling me. I rushed out and saw the woman. I discovered that her water had already broken. The head of the baby was also coming out. We surrounded her and urged her to push and she gave birth to the baby by the roadside.”
Another trader on the team, Mrs. Fatimoh Oluwatobi, said Adetola was delivered of the baby in less than five minutes.
She said, “The woman’s husband was just crying while we delivered the baby. The lady that was the conductor of the BRT bus waited and supported us. It was not up to five minutes that she gave birth naturally. The LASAMBUS did not get here on time. When the team members finally arrived, they explained said they were held up in the traffic.”
It was gathered that after the delivery, no taxi driver was willing to take the family to the hospital.
However, a driver, Mr. Lateef Aremu, said he summoned courage to take the family to the hospital, adding that the attitude of officials of the Gbagada General Hospital was not good.
He said, “When I was called to take them to the hospital, I was a bit scared because anything could go wrong; but I decided to do it. I guess God wanted me to help them.
“However, when we got to the Gbagada General Hospital, they did not attend to us on time. Initially, they said we should go and listen to a lecture. After about 45 minutes, they admitted the mother in the Emergency Ward.
“They initially left the baby with us. After waiting for a long time, we told them that the baby was just delivered by the roadside and had yet to take his bath. That was when they received him from us. The whole issue took so much time and at a point, I was almost frustrated.”
The father of the child, Idowu, said he was taking his wife to a hospital in Oshodi where she was registered when she went into labour in the BRT bus.
He said, “She was registered with a private hospital in Oshodi where we were living before we relocated to Owode Onirin.
“When she went into labour around 5am on Tuesday, we made arrangement with the BRT bus to take us to Oshodi. But when we got half way into the journey, the head of the child started coming out.
“We were dropped off at Anthony bus stop, where she finally gave birth.”
Idowu, a warehouse assistant, said he had exhausted the money on him on drugs, saying the hospital management had been writing several drugs for him which he could not afford.
Adetola, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, expressed her gratitude to the food vendors and motorists who helped her.
She said, “I believe it was God that used them to help me.”
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Deola Salako, said Adetola had been discharged, while the baby was still in the care of the hospital.
She said, “Mrs. Adetola Ayodele delivered the baby inside the BRT bus on Tuesday and was brought to Gbagada General Hospital.
“The mother was promptly attended to and the baby transferred to Neo-natal unit. The mother has been discharged in a stable condition and the baby is still with us and doing well.”
No comments:
Post a Comment