The management of Ajeromi General Hospital in Ajegunle has detained a woman identified as Elizabeth Davis due to her inability to settle a N323,000 medical bill after she lost her prematurely delivered baby. This development comes months after the Lagos State Government mandated all general hospitals and primary health centres to provide free antenatal care and child delivery services to pregnant women,
According to the Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, the free antenatal and delivery services were aimed at achieving this objective, as recognised by the governor.
Davis revealed that her baby, born prematurely on February 29, 2024, passed away after developing a fever while being treated in an incubator on March 3. The hospital has refused to release the infant’s remains or allow Davis to leave unless they settle the outstanding N323,000 bill.
“They have detained me since then,” Davis said. “They said I have to pay over N353,000 before they can let me go. For some days they didn’t allow us to take the remains of the child away.”
Her husband, Michael Bassey, confirmed that the hospital denied him the right to take the baby’s body for burial for several weeks due to the unpaid bills, only allowing him to collect the corpse on Monday, March 25.
“After we lost the baby, the hospital told me that before I could take the corpse, I should get a clearance of N323,000. They said if I didn’t pay, they would not allow me to bury my daughter. And they still detained my wife,” Bassey stated.
The detention of Davis contradicts the state government’s stated policy of implementing free maternity services, including caesarean sections, to improve maternal and child health indices and ease the burden of rising costs on expectant parents following the removal of fuel subsidies.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, said he would investigate the matter after News Central’s reporters reached out.