Posted by The people of Sankwala in Cross River State’s Obanliku LGA protested over the weekend following the death of a middle-aged woman, simply known as Rebecca, alias RB, during childbirth.
The woman died on Thursday while being attended to by a ward orderly at Sankwala General Hospital, after the only doctor had left to sleep due to exhaustion.
According to the findings, she was the third lady to die in such circumstances in the same hospital in the last few months.
Members in the neighborhood were outraged, and they protested for two days.
Moses Igin, one of the young leaders, voiced dissatisfaction with the hospital’s lack of skilled medical workers and equipment.
“There was no doctor or nurse to care for her.” A ward orderly rather attended to the woman.
“We’ve been told that when her condition deteriorated due to what’s known as ‘bridge labor,’ the doctor was contacted after he had gone home.” The doctor was said to be exhausted after doing four procedures during the day.”
Rebecca, according to the youth leader, suffered severe sensations throughout the night as the baby’s head was blocked in the birth canal.
According to him, Rebecca’s death elicited strong emotions from community members, who accused the general hospital of incompetence.
Basang-Sylvania Anyawho, President of the Obanliku LGA Bassang Association, voiced worry about the hospital’s recurring occurrences of mother and child mortality, particularly after childbirth.
“For about two days now, the media has been flooded with discouraging and heartbreaking images of a dead mother and child who both died during the sacred process of labor that lasted for more than three days,” he stated.
“However, it is heartbreaking to learn that two precious lives were lost as a result of similar circumstances that could have been avoided with proper precautions and medical attention.”
“This medical insecurity has become the new norm at Sankwala, which was designed to be one of the best in the country at the time.”
“The continued mishaps and medical inadequacy has forced many to believe that the hospital has become a ‘dead trap’ in disguise.”
According to him, the hospital serves hundreds of thousands of residents of Obanliku and Boki LGAs, as well as several Benue State localities.
He encouraged the member of the House of Assembly representing Obanliku State Constituency to propose an urgent motion for the hospital’s quick rehabilitation, staffing, and management by appropriate agencies.
“Our representatives at the National Assembly too should look into facilitating projects like building of doctors/ nurses quarters, provision of sophisticated medical equipment and lots more to the hospital for the benefits of the people and their well-being,” he went on to say.
Senator Bassey Otu, the state governor, expressed grief over the killings and sent his sympathies to the paramount monarch, Amons Item, ensuring that such incidents would not happen again.
He expressly authorized the mobilization of workers at Sankwala and other government health facilities, particularly those in rural areas around the state.