18-year-old nursing mother detained in Delta hospital for unpaid bill

An 18-year-old nursing mother, known as Toyin Oluwagbemiga, was held in detention at Trinity Hospital in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State for a prolonged period of five months.

In her plea for assistance, the nursing mother is reaching out to the state governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, as well as other concerned individuals in the state.

Reportedly, the hospital authorities detained Toyin Oluwagbemiga due to her inability to settle her medical bill, which had accumulated to the sum of N537,800.

According to a source, “The nursing mother (Toyin) was put in a family way by a man identified simply as Joshua Cole, immediately after her Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) at Ekuigbo Grammar School.

“However, she developed some complications during delivery, which took her to the Ekuigbo Community Health Centre in Ughelli.

“Her condition was perceived as critical and was referred to the Ughelli Central Hospital, but her parents rushed her to a private health facility, Trinity Hospital in Ughelli, where she received care.”

Toyin found herself burdened with the responsibility of settling the medical bills following a Caesarean section (CS) procedure, as her parents had departed without taking responsibility for the expenses.

When approached for comment on the matter, Dr. Bryian, a hospital doctor, explained, ‘The hospital decided to keep Toyin until her medical bill which is N537,800 is cleared.’

The doctor stated, “One Toyin Joshua, (her card name) was transferred from the Ekuigbo Health Centre in Ughelli and brought to this hospital unconsciously by a man and woman and others who claimed to be her parents and relatives with a referral letter probably to the Ughelli Central Hospital.

“I was in the theatre room when she was brought in, but I had to change my clothes to see her as her case was an emergency.

He continued, “When l saw the referral letter, l told them to go to the hospital they were referred to and even wrote another referral letter for them, but all the people who brought her started crying and begging that l should attend to her.

“I didn’t want to attend to her because, she was already in a coma and I told them that the case was critical as she had convulsed twice and was already having eclampsia, (a gynaecology term related to high blood pressure).”