Douala: Administrator discovers fetus during health centre tour

The fetus was in a Medical Centre operating illegally in Sodikombo in the Douala 5 sub-division.

The D.O. Dr Asongwe Cletus stumbled on the fully formed fetus on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at the Centre Medical Ebane while on an operation to seal illegal medical centres and pharmacies.

Questioned what happened, the medic on duty attending to four patients, answered in a trembling voice.

“The woman and her carer came here three days ago. We did echography and discovered that the baby in her womb was already dead. Our only option was to remove the dead baby and save the mother’s life. The removal was successful and the baby came out dead as the echography showed. The baby was already in the state of decomposition,” the medic explained.

On the part of the woman questioned by the Douala 5 D.O. where she used to go for checks and what she was doing in such a Health Centre, she some constraints pushed her there.

Immediate disposition was taken by the city administrator as the woman and other patients admitted to the Medical Centre were evacuated to the Cité de Palmiere Health District for proper care.

The Centre Medical Ebane was sealed and the medic was taken to the Ndogbong Gendarmerie Brigade for further interrogation.

The dead foetus was wrapped and put in a bag and handed over to the woman’s carer.

Meantime, the operation to clean the health sector in the Douala 5 municipal led to the sealing of about 20 illegal medical health centres with some of the proprietors arrested and taken to the Ndogbong Gendarmerie Brigade.

Apart from operating in total illegality, some of the centres were in their best unsanitary state, lack of professional medical equipment, and other facilities. Some had tiny pharmacies or boxes with expired drugs.