Yesterday, a story broke our hearts and shook the entire antenatal waiting area at Ayinke House, LASUTH.
She was bleeding heavily.
She was unconscious.
She never made it past the gate.
Fellow Nurses Africa spoke to an eyewitness – a young woman who was there with her cousin for a routine antenatal visit. What she saw that day has left her traumatised.
This is her story – in her own words:
“I was sitting with my cousin when we heard shouting at the gate.
A bus stopped suddenly and people were screaming for help.
They carried a woman out – she was heavily pregnant and covered in blood.
Her wrapper was soaked red.
She was not moving.
The family was crying and begging the security and nurses at the gate to help.
But the staff just looked and said:
‘She is already gone. Take her straight to the mortuary.’
No stretcher.
No attempt to rush her inside.
No doctor came out.
They just pointed to the mortuary direction.
I started shaking. I have never seen death like that before.
They wrapped her body in black nylon right there on the ground.
Blood was everywhere.
I cried until I couldn’t see properly. Someone had to drive us home because I couldn’t even hold the steering wheel.”
What Really Happened – The Full Timeline
- Days earlier, the same woman had come to Ayinke House for antenatal care
- Doctors advised an urgent caesarean section
- She and her family refused – they said “in our family, we don’t do C-section”
- They took her to a traditional birth attendant instead
- She laboured for two full days with no progress
- Obstructed labour led to severe bleeding
- When it became clear she was dying, they rushed her back to the hospital
- By the time they arrived, it was too late
She died at the gate of the very hospital that could have saved her – if they had listened the first time.
This Is Not an Isolated Case
Every week, Nigerian hospitals record preventable maternal deaths because of:
- Refusal of C-section
- Fear of blood transfusion
- Preference for prayer houses and TBAs over medical care
- Family pressure and harmful cultural beliefs
One life lost is one too many.
A Message to Every Woman Planning Marriage
The eyewitness told us:
“If a relationship is getting serious, I will ask one question clearly:
If the doctor says C-section or blood transfusion will save my life – will you sign the form immediately?
Because I will never gamble with my life for tradition.”
Rest in peace to the sister we lost yesterday.
May her death not be in vain.
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Fellow Nurses Africa is the independent voice of African nursing. We educate, inform and support nurses across Africa.
