Detained in hospital, after childbirth, for 5 months!

What!? Where is that hospital? Who is this callous doctor that will keep a woman in a hospital after childbirth for this long?? Are they mad? What devilish people? Don't they have human sympathy????

Are these your thoughts right now? I'm sure they are. Those were my thoughts too, when i heard the line i used in the title.

NEVER CONCLUDE ANYTHING AFTER HEARING JUST ONE SIDE OF A STORY!

That's what i learnt today. Well, i have known that for so long, but today, this saying was reinforced in my mind.

The real story
So, a reporter at Vanguard newspaper contacted a good friend of mine, telling her that his neighbor had been held hostage at the hospital were she gave birth, since November last year. My friend shared this disturbing news on our whatsapp group and it touched my soul. I told her i would go with her to investigate this matter and see what i can do to help. We went to the hospital today.

The hospital - a big hospital located at Ejigbo, Lagos - looked very good from the outside but our anger, borne out of the news we had gotten, didn't let us appreciate anything. We went in and met with the lady (let's call her B). After talking with her for less than 5 minutes, i realized something - this woman is not a serious person . Not serious about anything!
No child comes suddenly. Like my friend told her today, every child gives the parents 9 months notice before showing up. How can a woman be pregnant, go 9 months and not have a dime to pay for hospital bill???? No kobo at all!

Let's be realistic. Yes, true, we know the country is hard, money is so hard to come by these days, but come on! Yes, she gave birth through cesarean section. She probably didn't expect to, that is understandable. But she didn't even have a dime to pay from day 1 that she was admitted at the hospital. The hospital took her in, carried out CS operation on her, cared for the baby and her and they didn't ask her for any initial deposit!!! Took her 3 months to make her first payment which was even less than 1% of her total bill! I am not kidding you!

If i didn't go there today and saw things with my eyes, i wouldn't have believed that a hospital like this exists in  this country! That a hospital owner can still value human life above money.

But why do people do things like this????? If you know you can't handle a baby, why why why would you go in to produce one???

I was so appalled today. So mad at the lady and the guy who impregnated her (i hate the word "baby daddy") Both of them are disappointments as far as i am concerned. And not because they can't afford to pay hospital bill. NO, not that. But because they seem so comfortable in their situation, not willing to do anything to get out of it.

I want to say that the hospital has been AMAZING!!! I am so pleased to be on the side of a hospital in a case like this. I am usually one to cry "Blue murder" when i hear that a hospital detained someone, a nursing mother most especially. But in this case, i applaud the hospital. They still allow her to be comfortable - with a bed, new sheets each day, access to water and steady light and a clean environment. Considering the kinds of stories of inhuman doctors and hospitals we hear these days, this is a welcome relief.

But a hospital environment is no place for a new baby to grow up in. That baby needs to get out of that hospital. For the sake of that baby - that beautiful, adorable, playful and pleasant baby girl - i am going to follow up this matter until B and her baby goes home.