Protest as woman dies during labour in Cross River general hospital

There was a protest in the Sankwala community in Obanliku LGA of Cross River State Sunday over the death of a middle-aged woman simply identified as Rebecca during childbirth at a state general hospital. She was said to have been attended to by a ward orderly in the hospital on Thursday when the only doctor […]

There was a protest in the Sankwala community in Obanliku LGA of Cross River State Sunday over the death of a middle-aged woman simply identified as Rebecca during childbirth at a state general hospital.

She was said to have been attended to by a ward orderly in the hospital on Thursday when the only doctor had retired to sleep having been exhausted.

The community said the incident was the third under such circumstances in the last few months in the same hospital.

In a swift reaction in a statement, Governor Bassey Otu regretted the demise of the pregnant woman and sent condolences to the Paramount Ruler of Obanliku LGA, Amos Item, assuring that such would not happen again.

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Otu also granted express approval for the mobilisation of manpower to strengthen the ailing service delivery at Sankwala as well as reinvigorate services in government health facilities in other rural areas.

In a statement, the President of Bassang Association in Obanliku LGA, Mr Basang-Sylvania Anyawho, said the alarming and reoccurring cases of mother and child deaths, especially during childbirth at the hospital have become irksome.

He alleged that the reported mismanagement at the General Hospital in Sankwala is a serious call for concern, calling for immediate intervention by the government.

He called for swift intervention to avert another case of emergency where their women may suffer the same fate.