SODIQ OJUROUNGBE writes on how women are left with devastating consequences with some living shattered lives, permanent damage, and enduring lifelong pain after escaping death by a whisker from healthcare providers’ carelessness during childbirth Although her surgery happened in 2001, 50-year-old Shakirat Adegoke has continued to battle the persistent pain that has become her unwelcome companion. For two decades now, the pain of complications of childbirth enveloped her joy, but her eyes still sparkle with a fierce determination to reclaim her life. The memories of that fateful day still linger, refusing to be extinguished by the passing of time.
Adegoke was eight months pregnant, hoping to have a successful delivery and carry her baby in her arms when disaster struck. The baby unfortunately died in her womb before it could get to nine months of delivery. Surgery at a private hospital in Surulere, Lagos, to remove the dead foetus left her with a mangled leg and a lifetime of regrets.
As she navigates the cramped corridors of her small apartment, Adegoke’s pace is slow, her leg dragging behind her like an anchor. The constant pain has become a familiar foe, one she battles with an arsenal of drugs and sheer willpower. Lifetime of suffering Sharing her experience with PUNCH Healthwise, Adegoke lamented that the surgery done to bring out her dead baby left her with a lifetime disability, pain, and suffering.
She said the procedure, meant to save her life, ended in tragedy wi.