UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB writes on the experiences of expectant mothers in Ilorin, Kwara state
25-year-old Amudalat Ambali, is heavily pregnant and cannot walk on her own without support. She would have to go through a caesarean session to be delivered of her baby, Blueprint gathered. It was also gathered that the young man responsible for her pregnancy is nowhere to be found, and life for this Secondary School drop-out has been challenging.
Born like any other baby without abnormality, Amudalat’s story however turned sour when she suddenly fell sick at the age of 10 years. Th ough the ailment did not claim her life, but she eventually developed a complication that crippled both of her legs.
All eff orts by her father, Mallam Ambali, a commercial motorcycle rider and mother, Muslimat, a petty trader, to save her from her condition proved abortive after spending a lot of money and visiting various hospitals for help. In a bid to make life better for her, Amudalat was enrolled to a public school where she studied up till Senior Secondary School level. However, she did not complete her secondary education as she had to drop out in 2014, because her parent could not aff ord to raise money for the registration of her Senior School Certifi cate Examination, her elder Sister, Taiye Ambali, disclosed to Blueprint. “Having lost the chance to sit for SSCE, my parents encouraged Amudalat to register as an apprentice in a chemist, in order to learn how to run a Chemist. ‘‘So far, she has spent 2 years out of the 2 and half years she is supposed to spend, before she fell in love with a young tomatoes seller who impregnated her and ran away, because he could not shoulder her responsibilities,” Taiye explained. As the pregnancy kept growing, Amudalat decided to register for anti-natal care at the Ilorin General Hospital.
Luck fell on Amudalat on Monday morning when she crawled into the General Hospital for her anti-natal, and her pathetic condition caught the attention of the Medical team of Wellbeing Foundation Africa; a pet project of the Wife of the Senate President, Barrister Toyin Saraki.
Th e team who were in the hospital as part of their regular visit to maternity clinics, to render support to pregnant women and children under a programme tagged ‘‘Maternal Monday’’, took her case up and was able to secure a wheel chair for her while the foundation also footed her medical bills. Speaking with Blueprint, the foundation’s Midwife offi cer, Mrs .Patricia Komolafe, said the Maternal Monday has been on for over 2 years and had touched the lives of many women and children.
She said the maternal Monday outreach had so far visited Ajikobi Cottage Hospital, Ilorin, General Hospitals Omu -Aran, Off a, Ilorin, Sobi Specialist Hospital, Ilorin, and Kwara State Civil Service Clinic among others. Komolafe, who spoke through an offi cer of the foundation, Alhaja Riskat, recalled that a mother of quadruplets has also benefi ted from the outreach recently. Presenting the wheel chair on behalf of the wife of the Senate president, Mrs. Funsho Abdullhai, wife of the national publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress, expressed the commitment of the senate president’s wife to ensuring the wellbeing of women and children of Nigeria and Africa, regardless of their status, political or religious affi liations. Abdulhai enjoyed women to take their anti-natal care seriously and always visit the hospital on their clinic days and any others days when necessary.
