When Hafsat Sani (not real name) was brought to Gama Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in her last stage of labour to deliver her baby, she met two other women in the labour room, as such she has to wait before she could get entry into the delivery room.
Therefore, Hafsat was asked to wait at the labour room’s reception because at the Gama PHC, women in labour must queue to use the facility’s sole delivery bed.
As such, whenever multiple expectant mothers arrive at the PHC for delivery at the same time, they have to join a queue before they can get access to the labour room and deliver their babies.
A midwife working at the Gama PHC told Daily Trust that, ‘In the event of multiple birth deliveries, we have to rush and wash the bed to attend to the next woman in the queue.
‘There is only one bed in the labour room, so in the event of multiple deliveries in the labour room, we have to improvise, whereby an observation bed is used to receive the delivery. And at least seven women delivered in the facility daily.’
After waiting for over an hour, the midwives rushed to wash the delivery bed to attend to Hafsat who was next on the queue.