Couple accuses Ridge Hospital of stealing their new-born baby
A Ghanaian young couple based in Accra are accusing nurses at Ridge Hospital of stealing their new-born baby after delivery in very mysterious circumstances.
The aggrieved husband, John K. Gabulja said he took his wife on Wednesday, May 16 and she had premature twins. The twin girls were only 31 weeks so they had to be in an incubator.
Speaking on OTEC FM’S breakfast Show ‘NYANSAPO’ Mr. Gabulja said, their mother after delivery was very weak so he had to care for the premature babies with the help of nurses.
“I was asked to pay GHc600 and buy baby dresses before I see the babies. I did exactly that and saw them very strong and kicking” he stated.
However, days later, he was told by doctors at the facility that one of the twin girls had died due to an infection.
“I was very surprised at the news because my girls were in good health when I left them. My wife was distraught so I had to comfort her” Mr. Gabulja told the programmes’ host Captain Koda.
But what triggered his suspicion that something had gone wrong was when he asked for the body of the baby.
“When I asked to see my dead baby, the doctors told me to relax because they are trying to save the life of the other twin. A counsellor at the hospital called Dr. Brako urged me to be strong as they work to sustain the other baby”.
Mr. Gabulja is shocked that such horrendous moments could happen at such a big hospital like Ridge now known as the Greater Accra Regional hospital.
“I’m surprised such a thing could happen at Ridge. They should produce my child either dead or alive” he fumed.
It will be recalled that, on February 5, 2014, a baby boy was stillborn at KATH but the body, which was supposed to have been sent to the mortuary by the mortuary attendant, was rather picked up by the cleaner who tidied up the ward that day.
The cleaner, Baba Abeley, claimed to have picked up the box containing the body of the baby and two others and sent same to the incinerator for burning.
Following that, the Baby’s mother Suweiba Mumuni, aggrieved family members and friends of the mother, as well as sympathisers, subjected doctors and nurses at the hospital to some beatings
Suweiba Mumuni’s case became a subject of public debate and enquiry because her family unlike other families, who have lost their children through the recklessness of Medical Professionals, decided that they were not going to take the explanation given by the hospital that the baby was dead and burnt.
The recent infamous lapses at our various Hospitals have triggered calls for major reforms and enhanced protocol at the hospital by leadership of Ghanaian Legislators.
The call comes in the wake of the death of a 70-year-old man who was refused treatment for lack of bed by seven hospitals in Accra.
The no-bed syndrome is firmly in the spotlight after a 70-year-old man, Prince Anthony Opoku-Acheampong, reportedly died in his car at the LEKMA Hospital at Teshie, after seven hospitals turned him away over claims there were no beds.
The deceased’s family started searching for a hospital for him at 11:00 pm on June 2, travelling for about 46 kilometres in total, across the seven hospitals, till he eventually died at around 3:30 am.
The Ghana Health Service Director-General, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, said the Service was first going to set up an investigative Committee to probe the incident.
The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye, has also charged the Health Committee as well as the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, to come up with laws and regulations in the medical field that will deal with the no-bed syndrome at some of the country’s health facilities.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com
