Nasarawa limbless baby cries non-stop

Miracle, as she came to be named by her parents, was born on May 22inside a hovel which houses her parents and three siblings at the Power House section of Akwanga, along Akwanga-Keffi By-Pass. She was delivered at about 5am, into the waiting hands of local birth attendants who had kept vigil throughout the night […]

Miracle, as she came to be named by her parents, was born on May 22inside a hovel which houses her parents and three siblings at the Power House section of Akwanga, along Akwanga-Keffi By-Pass. She was delivered at about 5am, into the waiting hands of local birth attendants who had kept vigil throughout the night for her coming.

 

Six weeks into her pregnancy, the mother, Abigail Danboyi, 26, was led to Akwanga General Hospital, by a concerned woman, for her to begin ante natal care, but that was the only time she ever visited a hospital with the pregnancy.

“I didn’t go again. We had no money,” she told Weekly Trust on the 23rd day of her daughter’s birth.

The baby came without limbs, but with a trunk that looks like she has a double abdomen. The baby has just her head and trunk which developed into a second abdomen. But she looked healthy apart from the absence of limbs. The shoulders are broad, but without hands, just as what is supposed to be her heaps is looking rather like a second abdomen, but without legs attached to it.

Dr. Thomas Adzer, a Consultant Surgeon at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, traced the causes of such deformity. He said some diets can cause genetic deletion. He said some diets are “teratogenic”, explaining that they can change genetic makeup.

“They (diets) can either delete the gene, causing this kind of deformity,” Dr. Adzer said. He said they can alter the formation of the fetus. The surgeon added that drugs can also cause such deformities at the early stage of the pregnancy, just as pregnancies exposed to radiation during X-rays can also affect the formation of the baby.

The young mother has three children from the marriage of about eight years. The first three are all female, the first being seven year old. It has been the couple’s prayers that the fourth child come out a male.

Danboyi Namo, the father of the baby and his wife said their first three children came out without any deformity.

The couple said they rushed the baby to Akwanga General Hospital, along Akwanga-Keffi Road, after birth. “We went straight to the hospital. We waited and waited, but there was no doctor. We waited for long and he didn’t come. So the nurses advised me to go back home; that the doctor may not even come. They said I shouldn’t waste my time,” the mother said.

On return to the house, they were advised to proceed to their traditional ruler with the baby. They said they did not waste any time, and headed for Akun, where they waited at the palace of Are Akun (Chief of Akun), Chief Usman Galadima Ombugadu who advised them to proceed to the office of the administrator of Akun Development Area.

The administrator was not on seat, but the following day, he visited the house himself, and committed them to the Social Welfare Department of the council.

Today (Saturday), will be the baby’s 26th day, yet, the parents said they are yet to hear from the Social Welfare Department of the council. “I had to call the head of the department, and he told me the council has no money”, the father said tearfully, cuddling his baby who cried throughout the interview session.

“The social welfare said they will have to inform the state ministry of health first.” Weekly Trust tried to speak to authorities at the council, but only subordinates – who only expressed concern with the family– spoke. Senior officers were said to have travelled to Lafia, the state capital, for a meeting.

Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, state Commissioner for Health told Weekly Trust, earlier that the matter had not been reported to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, but   promised to contact the development area and find out for himself.

The baby’s parents have continually appealed to governments at all levels, as well as spirited individuals for help to support their baby.