32-Year-Old Woman Dies With 9-Month Pregnancy Over New Naira Note Scarcity

A 32-year-old woman, Shema’u Labaran, died along with her nine-month-old pregnancy at the Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Kano State, over the inability of her husband to pay medical bills with the new naira notes in time.

Naija News learnt that Labaran was allegedly left in pain for more than eight hours without attention from the medical personnel on duty.

Narrating the tragic incident to PUNCH, the 42-year-old husband of the deceased, Bello Baffa, said his wife bled to death while he was struggling to settle medical bills at the pharmacy through transfer.

According to Bella, the hospital had stopped receiving old Naira notes and was compelled to stay back until the confirmation of the ₦8,528 payment for drugs.

The bereaved husband said the medical personnel insisted they would not attend to his late wife until he deposited money and provided evidence.

Baffa noted that the hospital also requested ₦4,000 for blood service after he had brought his relatives to donate blood for his wife.

He added that his wife was taken to the labour room around 1 am and the doctor later came out around 3 am to break the bad news, that his wife and unborn baby could not make it.

Baffa insisted that the alleged inhumane treatment by the hospital of his wife because of the old Naira notes rejection contributed to her sudden death.

He said: ”I was told I had to pay an additional ₦4,000 for blood service, and I quickly rushed out to the payment point. At that time, it was late and (I was) afraid my wife had suffered a lot without medical attention. So after I made the payment and waited for an alert, I had to beg them to issue the payment evidence while my brother would remain with them pending when they would confirm the transfer.

“I also narrated my wife’s condition. They accepted the condition and the receipt was printed. I rushed to the ward again and it was at that moment, getting to 1 am, that my wife was taken to the labour room.”

The spokesperson for the hospital board, Ibrahim Abdullahi, confirmed the incident and stressed that the management had commenced an investigation into the matter.

He noted that the Chief Medical Director is scheduled to brief journalists about the development as soon as the investigation is concluded.