Magodo Specialist Hospital has responded to the tragic incident that occurred in their facility on April 30, 2017.
One Chisom Anekwe passed on at the hospital during childbirth.
Following the incident, friends and family demanded that the hospital be investigated and that the federal government ensures that incidents like that do not occur again.
The hospital has said that it couldn’t comment on the matter at the time it occurred because the case was under investigation.
Read the statement signed by Samuel O Isong on behalf of the hospital:
We
are deeply saddened by the death of Mrs Chisom Anekwe. We wish to
express our sympathy to the family and friends on this unfortunate and
tragic incident. We pray that God will comfort them and grant them the
fortitude to bear this great loss. We are however compelled to address
the postings on the social media which are untrue. The facts have been
markedly falsified and distorted. It would appear that deliberate
attempts were made to damage the image of the hospital and the integrity
of the attending doctors and nurses based on false premises. It has
become necessary to state the hospital’s account within the limits of
professional ethics in order to give members of the public a balanced
perspective. We wish to state that the case is presently under
investigation by statutory bodies such as the Nigeria Medical
Association (NMA), the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and
the Lagos State Health Facilities Accreditation and Monitoring Authority
(HEFAMA) and as such, the hospital would not want to do anything that
would prejudice such investigations. It is also hoped that a post mortem
examination would help to unravel the cause of this unfortunate
incident.
Mrs Chisom Anekwe was a pleasant and gracious lady who
was well liked by staff and other patients. We were delighted when she
registered for antenatal care in Magodo Specialist Hospital for her
third baby. She had had 2 previous successful deliveries in this
hospital in 2012 and 2015 respectively. During the index pregnancy, she
developed hypertension at a time when the baby was not yet matured for
delivery. Hypertensive diseases (pre-eclampsia) are the leading cause of
death associated with pregnancy worldwide. She was offered admission to
control and monitor the blood pressure on 26 April 2017 but declined
and went home. She later returned on 27 April 2017 because of headache
and inability to sleep. She was placed on BP lowering drugs and was
regularly seen by doctors and nurses including gynaecologists. At least 3
gynaecologists attended to her individually or jointly during her
admission.
She remained stable until the early hours of 30 April
2017 when she complained of sudden severe abdominal pain. It emerged
that she did not take the medication prescribed to reduce her blood
pressure the previous evening. The nurses and doctors including a
gynaecologist came to see and made a diagnosis of placental abruption, a
condition in which the placenta is detached from the womb before the
onset of labour. Placental abruption is a known complication of
hypertension in pregnancy and in this condition, the patient would lose a
lot of blood and the baby would suffer from nutrient and oxygen lack
and is usually born dead. On assessment, the patient was in shock.
Immediate steps were taken to resuscitate her with intravenous drips and
oxygen while attempts were made to obtain blood for transfusion. The
staff then prepared for emergency caesarean section to try and save the
baby. The team including gynaecologist, anaesthetist and paediatrician
were called and they attended. But before starting the operation, the
doctors needed to confirm that the baby was still alive by listening to
the heartbeat. Unfortunately, the baby’s heartbeat was not heard.
This
necessitated a change of plan. They decided not to proceed with the
operation because the baby was already dead and the operation could be
dangerous for the mother in that situation. A further complication of
placental abruption is disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) a
condition where the blood fails to clot. This could lead to excessive
and uncontrollable bleeding during a caesarean operation. This was
explained to the husband who gave consent for labour to be induced.
Labour was induced and she was monitored throughout. She then had a
normal delivery of the baby and placenta following labour induction.
Resuscitation
of the patient continued and she was given drips and blood transfusion
to replace what she had lost. She was continually monitored by nurses,
doctors and gynaecologists. She was never left on her own contrary to
the postings on social media. There was initial improvement in her
condition, which appeared to be stabilizing. But when it unexpectedly
started to deteriorate, it was decided after consultation with the
husband to transfer her to another hospital.
The story on social
media suggested that the patient fell into labour, called for help and
nobody came. This is not true. The claim that the patient fell into
labour was contradicted by the same social media post which alleged that
labour was induced without the husband’s consent. The patient never
fell into labour and when she developed placenta abruption, the doctors
and nurses including the gynaecologist attended promptly. For most of
the time, 2 gynaecologists jointly attended to her along with other
doctors and nurses. The patient was monitored continually during the
management of this severe emergency.
The decision not to proceed
with caesarean section was taken in the patient’s overall best interest
and according to standard medical practice. The theatre was prepared and
the team of gynaecologist, anaesthetist, paediatrician and others
assembled ready to do the operation. They did not proceed because of
consideration of the patient’s overall best interest. Ironically, it
would be financially more rewarding for the hospital to do caesarean
section rather than offer vaginal delivery. We placed our patient’s
interest above any potential financial gain.
The story also
claimed that the “doctor sneaked out of the hospital”. This is untrue.
Two gynaecologists were jointly attending to the patient and when her
condition appeared to be stabilizing, one of them left with a plan to
return after a short while. And when he was contacted that the patient’s
condition was deteriorating, he immediately made his way back to the
hospital and later proceeded to the hospital where the patient was
referred to support the family. He left the referral hospital after he
was physically assaulted by the patient’s husband.
We care very
passionately about the health and lives of our patients. The hospital is
well equipped and adequately staffed. The hospital is fully accredited
by the relevant statutory authorities. We are very sorrowful about
losing this patient. The death of any young person is regrettable and
must be guarded against. We have handled many difficult cases
successfully in the past and did our best in this situation. But we also
are humble to recognize that doctors and nurses may care, it is God
that heals and that despite human best effort, death may still
occur. We are greatly distressed and saddened by the death of this
young woman who had been our patient for over 5 years and had her 2
babies successfully under our care. Our hearts and prayers are with the
family. We pray that God in His infinite mercy will comfort them and
grant them the grace and strength to bear this great loss. We pray that
the almighty God will take care of the children and the family she has
left behind.