Laquintini hospital director debunks news of baby theft
The Director of the Douala Laquintini Hospital, Essomba Emmanuel has in a press release signed April 3, 2023 cdebunked information circulating on social media that a baby was stolen in the health facility.
In order to clear the image of the country’s health system in general and that of the Laquintini Hospital in particular from this embarrassing rumour, Dr. Essomba Emmanuel in the press release gave clarification of what he claims actually happened.
“A young lady concerned, Bell Esther Aurelie, arrived the hospital for threat of inevitable late abortion. The action of one of our trainees which escaped the vigilance of our midwives unfortunately led to the evacuation of the non-viable foetus in a septic tank. It was only when she regained consciousness that the young nurse explained to her what had happened. This sparked a series of misunderstandings” a section of the release reads.
According to the Director, he immediately carried out investigations in view of getting the whole truth on the matter. The exchange that brought together the nursing staff, the family and the management of the hospital made it possible to shed some light on the issue.
“Definitively, there was no “baby theft” at the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala. Nevertheless, there was a lack of communication between the staff and the family. Consequently, the management of the Laquintinie hospital, while presenting its sincere apologies to the family so deeply affected, promises to intensify the communication procedures between the staff and the users, which will prevent this type of incident in the future” another section reads.
It should be recalled that a few hours ago, a woman called Bell Esther Aurelie claimed she arrived the hospital around 10pm on Thursday March 30 with a hevay bleed and was reportedly delivered of the baby at 1AM on Friday. She however went on to say that she was not given her bay although she was conviced she gave birth to a live baby ad went further to accuse the hospital staff of kidnapping her newborn.
The family of the Esther has been planning on taking the matter to the Bonanjo State Counsel’s office to seek justice.
