A Pharmacy Technician who has just been delivered of a baby via the Cesarean section, Susan Ubangha, has narrated how her husband allegedly misappropriated the money she should have spent on her delivery.
Her husband used the money to buy phone and a dog, Susan alleged.
She came to public view begging for financial assistance before and after giving birth at the Alimosho General Hospital in Igando area of Lagos State.
Ubangha, in a lengthy post on her X handle, stated that her troubles started in the weeks leading to the delivery of her baby, as she started to experience sudden and severe shortness of breath.
The nursing mother, who claimed to have been taken to the hospital in emergency, alleged that her husband failed to pay her hospital bills, whereas she had transferred some of the money someone had given her into his account for onward payment to the hospital.
She claimed that her husband was opposed to a caesarean section due to the initial financial constraints — a mindset that did not change, even when money became available, and that he suggested that she should deliver the baby vaginally.
She tweeted,
I got traditionally married recently and took in. I thought that was the best thing that happened to me, everything was going well until I entered the 35th week. I suddenly developed shortness of breath, I could barely walk two seconds without being out of breath. Thinking it was one of those symptoms of late pregnancy, I didn’t take it seriously until the 14th of April when I could barely breathe, and couldn’t lift my head up.
I was rushed to a nearby clinic, they couldn’t handle me, so I was taken to my hospital where I was admitted and placed on oxygen. The doctors told my husband we should opt for CS, as I and my unborn child were at risk.
My husband said no, that I’d definitely deliver naturally. He insisted he had no money for CS and that they should work on stabilising my breathing. So, for three days, I was on oxygen and feeling better. Seeing that I was responding to treatment, my husband went around and insisted I should be discharged against the doctor’s advice.
Ubangha said she was too weak to argue with her husband whose insistence led to her being discharged from the hospital.
The breathing problems resurfaced after she arrived home, adding that her husband thereafter bought a herbal drink which he asked her to drink to make her baby’s head turn for vaginal delivery.
She further narrated that her pain intensified after she had taken the concoction, and that she writhed in pain till about 1 am when she couldn’t take it anymore.
She said, “I cried out, my neighbours came running and I was again rushed to the hospital, admitted and placed on oxygen. While my doctors determined what to do, my husband insisted he had no money for a cesarean section. All these while, I was spending my life’s savings on medications, this and that tests.
Half a million naira from social media contact
“This dragged on until the morning of 29th April, I was broken, my baby wasn’t moving, my breathing wasn’t good, I couldn’t push and my baby’s position was breached. I cried out on Facebook where a kind Samaritan sent me N500k to pay for CS and whatever else I might need afterwards.”
On how her husband allegedly squandered the money, Ubangha said, “I immediately sent the sum of 180k and an additional N60k so he could pay for the surgery and whatever we might need. He took the money and spent it instead on a phone and bought a dog, while I was battling with life, thinking he was paying.
“We waited from 10 am when I gave him the money to about 2 pm. Doctors were shouting, time was running out, I had to call his sister, counted another N180,000 and gave her, she’s the one who paid. He came at 6 pm when I was being wheeled into the theatre. I could hear both of them fighting, the sister threatening to arrest him.”
Ubangha, who eventually gave birth through a cesarean section, alleged that her husband had abandoned her, as she was left with her newborn baby girl and her aged mother at the hospital.
Ubangha explained that she was stranded, having spent all she had on medical bills and food, and appealed to the public for help to save her.
In a picture attached to the post, the nursing mother could be seen on her hospital bed with a swollen leg
“First diagnosis was that I had peripartum cardiomyopathy. I’ve done ECKG, chest X-ray and a series of other blood tests that I’m waiting for a report on. Whatever the outcome, I will need every help I can get. I need about N500K to help with whatever treatment plan and to help facilitate my discharge process,” she added.
Ubangha explained that she was stranded, having spent all she had on the medical bills and food, and appealed to the public for help to save her.
Efforts to reach the hospital proved abortive as all the contact numbers they provided on their website did not connect. A message sent to their mail had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.
Final succour
Meanwhile, succour has come the way of Susan, as she stated in a series of tweets:
There are too many kind-hearted Nigerians. I asked for a little help, I didn’t see this type of help coming. You have all raised it to more than enough for me to give my daughter a good life. All my worries, anxiety has eluded me. I can now focus on getting better.
I’m short of words. I’ve raised thrice of the needed amount until my Palmpay can’t receive funds anymore due to transactions limit.
Dear kind-hearted Nigerians, I do not know where to start thanking you. Please, it’s enough, it’s too much for me to process. Thank you so much😭
