If Only Babies Can Talk
Some years back, a close family friend had her baby in a commuter bus while going to the hospital because it was a precipitous labour and viola, the baby was born inside an 18 seater bus by women who were mothers themselves.
Two weeks thereafter, the baby became ill, had stiff neck, couldn’t eat and a whole lot of things went wrong. He was taken to the hospital and was discovered that he had neonatal tetanus. He pulled through and survived. He was one of the luckiest.
During the week, a viral video of women who recently gave birth flooded the Whatsapp platform. And these women were driven out of their wards for no known reason at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Nigeria.
No doubt the medical field has the history of being encapsulated in professional aloofness. That was why a medical doctor could tell a patient bluntly,” You have six months to live”. And the patient would then die before the actual death. Healthcare workers pretend as if they are zombies; devoid of emotions.
Now, if a tertiary health institution like LUTH could look the other way and allow neonates to be thrown out with their mothers, then something was definitely wrong. If only babies could talk, plead, cry and ask ‘‘Why us?’’
A lady’s voice in the video said she had paid well over a million, yet she and others were thrown outside. That could be plausible.
The real issue was why leave these newly born babies to fight their own survivals with their barely developed lungs and immunities.
You hope Nigeria hasn’t become what the outgoing President of the United States of America, Donald Trump called it: “A shithole country?”
Even if there were no available bed spaces for these women, aren’t there bed spaces for these babies? There are things that don’t need prayers as long as there are means to do. Why test God when someone in position should have made arrangement even if there was an ongoing renovation.
These neonates could easily get exposed to lots of virus including COVID-19 and harsh weather condition.
A friend once said, a multi billionaire has a great heart but the people with bad intents who surround him would smear such heart with venom.
Appointment of commissioner of health and Chief Medical Director, CMD were made into effect by the relevant authorities. But what happened thereafter?
In this situation, the CMD cannot be in several places at the same time when he wasn’t a superman like the Disney cartoon character.
What happened to other appointed directors who reports to the CMD and who are parents and grandparents in their own right? (From antecedent, Nigeria loves to appoint older and analogue generation in positions. Something about the old wine tasting better).
Someone needs to be held accountable and explanation ought to be given ASAP. Before other mothers start their own global protest.
See you next week
