Nursing Mother Detained in Lagos Hospital Over Debt

A nursing mother, Blessing Bassey and her baby have been sleeping on the floor of one of the wards of Mojol Hospital, Church Lane, in the Shasha region of Lagos State, for seven months for the N95,000 hospital bill.

It was concluded that nurses and doctors were directed by the hospital management to ensure that Blessing and her daughter did not leave the hospital premises.

The 27-year-old and her child sleeping on the floor were discovered by our correspondent during a visit to the hospital.

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The nursing mother, Blessing, who cursed her fate, said her husband’s attempts to raise the money had been abortive.

The indigenous Cross River State clarified that her husband, a mechanic, tried, but failed, to do menial jobs to collect the funds.

While remembering how she got to the hospital, on March 6, 2020, when she was rushed to a medical facility where she was originally admitted, Blessing said she was unconscious.

In a brief chat with the nursing mother, she said, “That time, I was seven months pregnant.

I collapsed and was rushed to the hospital in which I registered, but they had no caesarean section equipment, so I was referred to Mojol Hospital. The same night, I was rushed to the hospital and a CS was carried out to save my life and the baby.”

The nursing mother continue as she said “Some days after the CS was done, I was told that our bill was N300,000; we paid N100,000 out of it.

“After paying, the owner of the hospital said the bill was N350,000. One of our neighbours came to beg her to reduce the money , and she reduced it to N250,000.
“We were able to pay a total of N155,000 and begged her to allow me to go and work so we could pay the balance by instalments, but she refused. I have been in the hospital since then.

“I had not spent one month on the hospital bed after the CS when I was told to move to the floor. I had to spread my wrapper on the floor so that my baby and I could sleep and that ’s where we have been sleeping for the past seven months.

Salami Akindayo, the hospital’s administrative officer, told newsmen that similar patients were released in the hope of collecting default payments.