IF indeed reincarnation is real, Bolanle Daramola is not likely to be motivated to come back again as a woman. The reason is that she suffered an excruciating pain and died a slow, painful death in her "earlier life" while trying to give birth at the Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos. It was on a grim day on January 22, 2008.

When Bolanle, a mother of three, walked into the ante-natal ward of the General Hospital on the morning of January 21, 2008, death was the only thing that refused to play in the picture of her mind. She envisaged no difficulty delivering her fourth child.

In fact, Muftau Daramola, Bolanle’s husband, had promised to return in a few hours, with the hope of taking both the mother and her new child home. But the couple’s hope assumed a fatal twist when the labour went indefinitely on as the baby refused to come.

It is the joy of every couple to witness the birth of their child and for months, the Daramolas had been expecting the joyful birth of their new baby, with no inclination that fate would deal them a wicked hand.

Muftau had gone back to the hospital at Gbagada after closing for work, only to meet his wife, who had been assuring him on phone that all was well since the early hours of the fateful day, still in pains.

After appealing to the nurses who had earlier told him he could not enter the labour ward, he was allowed to see his wife, who only requested that he should pray for her and then go back home to cater for their other children, promising to call him as soon as their baby came.

He pretended to have accepted his wife’s suggestion but stayed back at the hospital to monitor the situation and be close by in case there was a need that had to be met urgently.

This was the situation till 8:00p.m, when the Assistant Chief Matron on duty informed the doctor on duty, Dr. Anifowoshe, that the foetus was bigger than an average baby's and that Bolanle’s contraction was weak. She concluded that she might not be able to deliver the baby by herself, and suggested that a caesarean section be carried out.

Dr. Anifowoshe allegedly would not have any of this. He gave the verdict that Bolanle was unnecessarily lazy, and should be left to be delivered of the child. An hour later, however, Dr. Anifowoshe himself had to agree that Bolanle’s prognosis was bad, and that a caesarean section was needed to be carried out immediately.

By the time Dr. Anifowoshe agreed that a caesarean section was needed, the personnel needed for the surgery had allegedly left the hospital. There was no other doctor at hand, and the obstetrician was also missing. Dr. Anifowoshe, however, kept assuring Muftau that by the time they will go for surgery, all the other doctors and needed facilities would be available.

At 1:00a.m of January 22, 2008, 17 hours after Bolanle got to the hospital, Muftau was directed to get blood ready from the hospital laboratory and to also purchase some drugs. This task proved an uphill one which took all of his patience as well as perseverance. The procedure for the blood crossing was not given to him, and the two female laboratory attendants were fast asleep, and were not ready to disrupt their sleep to help the desperate Muftau without passionate persuasion. He had to run round the female delivery ward and the laboratory,weeping, according to him, before he could be attended to for the three times he had to go there for blood.

After the stress of getting the blood, Muftau got back to meet no doctor on hand, except Dr. Anifowoshe, who was busy making calls to the other doctors, telling them to get ready for the operation. He promised to send the ambulance to pick them.

Another complication reportedly developed at this point.

The only ambulance attached to the hospital was said not to be on ground. The driver claimed it had developed an electrical fault on the Third Mainland bridge and was still there, but assured that it would soon be brought back.

The worried and desperate Muftau suggested using any of the two vehicles that he had with him to pick the doctors but was turned down on the grounds that it was not proper, nor in the interest of the doctors, to convey them in a private car at that time of the night. Yet, Bolanle continued to wallow in pain.

During this period, Bolanle reportedly fainted from severe pain while she was being cleaned up by a nurse and was revived. It was at this time that a message was sent in that the ambulance had arrived. The driver was immediately sent to pick up the doctors. A female doctor who was to administer anaesthesia for the surgery, Dr. (Mrs.) Owodunni, came in with the ambulance but Dr. Saheed, a.k.a Oko Oloyun, who was to perform the caesarean section, allegedly remained elusive. The ambulance came back without him and no reason was given to Muftau.

At about the time Bolanle fainted, one of Muftau’s bosses in his office invited the Critical Rescue team (CRT), to help keep Bolanle alive. A two-man team from CRT led by Dr. Olagbenga got to the Gbagada General hospital at 1:00a.m but were not allowed to participate in caring for Bolanle. After series of consultations and explanations, they were eventually allowed to have access to the patient, but when they finally saw her condition, they left after a few minutes, stating that they could not render any assistance as they were allowed access late after the situation had gone bad. They added that Dr. Anifowoshe did not allow them to move her , maintaining that they were capable of handling the situation.

When Dr. Anifowoshe realised that life was slowly ebbing out of Bolanle, and Dr. Saheed was yet to show up, they decided to refer her to Island Maternity. A referral letter was finally issued to move Bolanle but the hospital personnel refused to render further help. The doctor and nurses on duty allegedly refused to accompany the seriously weak woman and her husband to Island Maternity on the grounds that it was late and dangerous for their lives.

Dr. Saheed, however, finally turned up in his private car around 3.00a.m and a consent letter for the caesarean section was given to Muftau to sign around 4.00a.m. while Bolanle was wheeled to the theatre. Alas! It was too late. Bolanle had given up the fight after about 20 hours of intense pain.

Bolanle died in what friends and family have continued to term negligence on the part of the medical officers of the Gbagada General Hospital. She, like many others, through no fault of hers, joined the high statistics of maternal mortality in Nigeria, in spite of the fact that she and her husband did all within their power to avoid this kind of incident.

Bolanle since her first regisgration for antenatal care at the hospital on October 22, 2007 with a card number 0908556 issued to her, had been adhering to all medical precautions given to her by the medical personnel according to her husband. She carried out two ultra-sounds during the gestation period first on November 5, 2007 and later on January 14, 2008 as instructed by the hospital and nothing out of the ordinary was detected as her medical records revealed.

In fact, mother and child were adjudged to have a clean bill of health, even on the morning of January 21, when she finally got admitted for delivery before her demise.
Bolanle's case, among many others, thus reinforces the authenticity of the recent report released by the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on maternal mortality and morbidity. The report claims that the rate of maternal mortality and morbidity is high in Nigeria.

In the last one-year, Muftau has not had a moment of respite. Though like a good Muslim, he had taken the event as the wish of Allah, he still passionately desires that the case be investigated and necessary steps taken to ensure that what befell his family will not happen to any other Nigerian.

“I have accepted my fate, my wife is dead and nothing can bring her back, but I will not rest until adequate steps are taken to prevent a future occurrence,” he said.

According to him, the hospital personnel tried to do a cover up and he believes this is still the case.

“It is important to note that the consent note to perform operation on my wife was given to me at about 4:00a.m on 22nd January 2008, while the death certificate later issued showed that my wife died about 3.30a.m on 22nd January 2008 and no surgical operation was performed on her till she died.”

A year later, Muftau is still reeling from the blow dealt to him by the death of his wife and has vowed that he will not rest until a series of questions are answered. As a result, he has written to the management of the Gbagada General Hospital through the Chief Medical Director, who he said later called him and spoke with him. He has also written to the Commissioner for Health, the Governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fasola, and the Association of Medical and Dental Practitioners that instructed him to put his complaint in an affidavit form, to enable them to take a legal action and this he has done.

However, Muftau is not satisfied. This is because all his efforts have not yielded any visible fruit and he believes the ghost of his wife will not be laid to rest if justice is not done to avoid a future recurrence.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Mr. Jide Lawal spoke with Nigerian Tribune on the issue. He said that contrary to the allegations, the ministry was working on the case. He explained that one needs to examine a case critically before an officer is alleged, or accused of negligence in carrying out his duties, adding that when investigation is concluded, any officer found wanting will definitely face the tune.

The Chief Medical Director of Gbagada General Hospital, when contacted on phone via SMS text, however declined to comment on the issue but referred Nigerian Tribune to a higher authority.

“You can see the Permanent Secretary, Health Service Commission on 1 Ganiu Smith Street, beside Lagos Island Maternity for full briefing,” the text reads.

Till press time however, the Permanent Secretary had not been seen to get his own reaction.

Incidences like this, Nigerian Tribune learnt, happen regularly in many general hospitals, though a few get reported and, according to a pregnant female lawyer, Mrs. Maryam Bello, it is not enough to deny some cases, “When the circumstantial evidences become too overwhelming. Then, there is a need for the medical personnel to look inwards. That maternal mortality is high in Nigeria is a fact.”

Major factors attributed to the high rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria by researchers include dearth of required medical facilities, poorly trained personnel, negligence and lack lustre attitude of workers, especially workers in government employ.

Though Muftau’s allegations, according to authorities, have not been thrown out, but are under investigation, they have raised some important questions which, could unravel the mystery, or expose who or what is actually responsible for Bolanle’s death.

Where were the theatre doctors on duty while Bolanle was in labour? Where really was the only functional ambulance and how did the driver who was within the hospital manage to repair the ambulance on Third Mainland Bridge in the dead of the night and get it to the hospital before morning? Why was Muftau’s offer of using his vehicle to pick Dr. Saheed turned down if he would later not follow the ambulance but show up in his private vehicle? Why was the critical rescue team prevented from helping out? Why did it take Dr. Anifowoshe so long to decide on a caesarean section, and why did it take hours to prepare? Why was Dr. Anifowoshe alone on duty? Why did they tell Muftau to take his wife to Island Maternity alone in that precarious condition? Why was Bolanle referred to the Island Maternity Hospital?

These questions, if and when answered, could settle the case quickly as justice delayed may end up being justice denied.

Stay on course. Someone needs to be held accountable for her death so it doesn't happen again.

nubianarie: Stay on course. Someone needs to be held accountable for her death so it doesn't happen again.

nubianarie, seconded! It could happen to any one of us. Let's give Muftau any support we can to pursue the matter to its logical end.