Pregnant women in Lagos State have rejected the hike in
the registration fee for ante-natal services in some public hospitals, describing it as unaffordable.
Expectant mothers who spoke to our correspondent at
various health centres in Lagos said it was not expected
from the Akinwunmi Ambode administration, which
promised to improve the health and welfare of pregnant
women and their children.

A pregnant woman, Mrs. Agnes Oluwatobi, who came for registration at the General Hospital in Shomolu on
Monday, said she could not register because she had yet to pay the N18,000 registration fee that pregnant women using the hospital were asked to pay before enrolling for ante-natal care. The new fee represents 100 per cent increment, compared to the former enrolment fee. Oluwatobi said the increment had discouraged other pregnant women who wanted to register for ante-natal at the hospital.

Olwatobi said when she had her first baby at the health
centre in 2012, she only paid N2,000 for the maternity
pack that every pregnant woman received when they
delivered at the centre. She said, “I could not register today because the nurses are insisting that I pay N18,000 before I start ante-natal. It was not like that before because I have been using this hospital since 2012 and even then, we only paid for tests.
“This fee is just too much, since it does not cover the cost of child delivery and necessary medical tests. My monthly salary as a cleaner in the daycare where I work is just N10,000 and I don’t even get paid regularly. So, where am I supposed to get N18,000 at once? At worst, the hospital should allow us to pay it over some months, instead of insisting that we pay it at once.”

A nurse at the hospital told our correspondent that the
accounts department had insisted that the women should pay the total amount since many of them had defaulted on installments in the past.
The situation is not peculiar to Shomolu, though. Mrs.
Shade Azeez also had the same complaint at the General
Hospital, Ikorodu, where she spoke with our
correspondent on Monday. She said the new fee might force women to consider any of the unregistered maternity homes that littered the area.
The expectant mother said she was already considering
enrolling at a ‘clinic’ where she would not have to spend
more than N6,000 for the entire delivery process.
“If they are charging N18,000 for ante-natal registration,
how much do you think they will charge for delivery? It
was almost free before. I paid N500 for the card and spent N2,000 for other things that I bought in the course of the ante-natal.
“I was not surprised that just few of us came to the clinic
today, since we (the pregnant women) had said we would try other places. I have decided to go to a traditional birth attendant in Agric area who said she would collect N6,000 for the herbs and delivery.”

A midwife at the hospital, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on
the matter, confirmed to our correspondent that, indeed,
attendance had dropped at the weekly ante-natal clinic.
She, however, said that the hospital had worked out a
payment plan for those who would not afford to pay
N18,000 at once.
An official at the accounts department at the General
Hospital, Shomolu, said the new directive for the increment came from the state government.
He said, “I can’t give you details; but I must let you know
that the new directive is from the state government. We
did not fix the price, they fixed it. Before, each general
hospital was charging fees independently, but this
directive is from Alausa. Patients should channel their
complaints to the state government.”

The Director of Information in the state Ministry of Health, Mrs. Adeola Salako, when contacted, said she would forward the complaints to the medical directors and the Service Charter of the hospitals.
She promised to get back to our correspondent with the
response from the affected hospitals before press time.
Salako said, “I have contacted the respective medical
directors and they promised to get back to me before the
close of work today with details. Thank you.”
There was, however, no further response from the
government, as of 6pm press time on Tuesday.

http://www.punchng.com/health/pregnant-women-fault-lagos-hospitals-n18000-ante-natal-fee/

FTC

its not LADYF again

One state under APC one trouble. Osun State - No salary Kaduna state - Reduction in ministerial appts IMO state - Salary palaver now Lagos - antenatal price hike

spiralwedge:
FTC

its not LADYF again

Equally jobless

HAEMOGLOBIN VARIANTS IN PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINIC
http://www.bravoprojecthelp.com/medical-laboratory/haemoglobin-variants-in-pregnant-women-attending-antenatal-clinic-in-jos-university-teaching-hospital-jos/