•Hospital, doctor deny negligence

A lawyer, Evans Ufeli, has demanded corrective surgery on his client, Ms Gift Danjuma, by St Nicholas Hospital.

He asked the hospital to restore his client to her state of health before a caesarean section (CS) was carried out on her by the hospital.

Ufeli said his client would “have no other option than to proceed against you in the court of law for redress” should the hospital fail to accede to the demand.

“Take notice that this letter is hereby served on you as a pre-action notice,” the lawyer added.

Ufeli said Danjuma suffered complications from a CS carried out by Dr. Oluwole Ayodeji at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos Island.

Danjuma was hired as a surrogate mother by the Meet Surrogate Mothers Agency at Lekki Lagos.

She started the process with the agency on December 26, 2018, after being certified fit for the purpose by a hospital.

In February 2019, the embryo was transferred to Danjuma’s womb and she was confirmed pregnant.

Based on a request by the Intended Parents (IP), Danjuma was registered at St. Nicholas Hospital and was assigned to Dr. Ayodeji as her gynaecologist.

The lawyer said additional four weeks were added when the pregnancy was 30 weeks. The CS was carried out on September 4, 2019, and she was delivered of a set of triplets.

Danjuma told Dr Ayodeji afterwards that her pain felt like “an unfinished abortion or miscarriage”.

She underwent a scan and the result showed that she retained particles of blood in the uterus, following which the doctor conducted an evacuation procedure on her.

Ufeli said after Danjuma was discharged from the hospital on September 11, 2019, the pains returned and her menstrual period stopped for about six months.

“Ever since the CS was done, our client has not been able to conceive and her period has been irregular and painful,” the lawyer stated.

Further tests revealed that Danjuma’s cervix was inaccessible and she was advised to return to St Nicholas for corrective surgery.

Ufeli said St Nicholas has refused to conduct the corrective surgery.

Danjuma added: “I have gone to several hospitals, including Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and doctors said they cannot locate my cervix. I was told that I needed corrective surgery.”

But, Dr Ayodeji denied that he or St. Nicholas Hospital was guilty of medical negligence.

He stressed that Danjuma’s condition had nothing to do with the CS.

Dr Ayodeji said: “She had her CS three years ago without complications. She can’t come now after three years to say she has complications. CS cannot cause the disappearance of the cervix. I have not heard of it in my 29 years of practice.”

Senior Executive Assistant to the Managing Director of St. Nicholas Hospital, Folasade Paul, said Danjuma was discharged in good health three years ago.

The hospital said: “By her own admission, she has sought treatment in other places, hospitals and medical laboratories in the three years since her discharge where possibly procedures that we are not privy to, and have no control over, may have been carried out.

“We can categorically state that Ms Danjuma was discharged in perfect health in 2019, and we categorically deny any allegation of medical negligence as regards her treatment.”

THE NATION