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| The happy couple |
By Paul Ukpabio & BiodunAdeyewa
IT was a mixture of shock and amazement in the sleepy town
of Ikugbomire in ObafemiOwode Local Government Area, Ogun State, on Wednesday
as a woman was delivered of a baby from a pregnancy she had carried for four
years. The question on every lip was, 'could it be true that
MrsOluwabunmiOgidan was delivered of a baby?' The obscure settlement instantly
became a Mecca of sorts as people trooped to Alayo Vantage Hospital from far
and near for a glimpse of the miracle baby.
Before she was delivered of the baby, the happy mother had
become the butt of taunts and ridicule in the community, particularly after a
scan conducted on her protruding tummy indicated that all she had in it was
fibroid. Among the cruel jokes targeted at her was the question as to whether the
baby in her womb would come out with a full set of teeth or walk and talk the
very day it is born.
The arrival of the baby therefore marked the end of years of
anxiety for 33-year-old Oluwabunmi and her 42-year-old husband,
BankoleOgidan. It was said that for two
years after their well-attended wedding, there were no signs of pregnancy. And
when the pregnancy finally came, it turned out to be their biggest headache.
But all that came to an end after she was delivered of the baby girl in the
natural way.
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| Prophet Emmanuel |
When we visited Alayo Vantage Hospital
yesterday, Oluwabunmi was still on the hospital bed, trying to come to terms
with the mystery surrounding the birth of her baby. According to her husband,
BankoleOgidan, their wedding took place on August 27, 2011. “We were full of
hope about having children and raising a complete family. But we had to wait
till August 2013 before she got pregnant exactly two years after,” he said.
“We went for pregnancy test and it was confirmed positive. A
few days after, my wife complained that she was feeling pains in her womb. We
went to a midwife who told us that the pain was not a problem; that the
pregnancy was intact. I was not satisfied, so I took her to another hospital
(name withheld) where we did a scan but the doctor said he didn't see any
pregnancy. The doctor said there had been a miscarriage. I asked him that
shouldn't there be an outflow of blood if she had a miscarriage? The doctor
said yes. I told him that we had not witnessed anything like that and he was
shocked.
Scared by the doctor's pronouncement, Bankole ran to the
pastor of his church, Prophet Emmanuel Ogbara, who assured him that God had
told him the pregnancy was intact. A couple of weeks later, Ogidan went back
with his wife to the hospital but they were told that what she had in her womb
was fibroid. They left for the General Hospital, Gbagada, where they were asked
to see a gynaecologist. Again, the gynaecologist told them that what he saw in
Oluwabunmi's stomach was multiple fibroid with no chance of conception.
“All this while, my wife's menstruation had ceased,” Bankole
said. “It was only once after the pregnancy was sighted that we observed that
little blood came out but stopped almost immediately. We left there for the
Government Hospital in Owode, Ogun State.
“Thereafter, we returned for a scan session. The
gynaecologist said there were three sets of fibroid where the baby ought to be,
but that the way my wife looked, she appeared like a woman who was ready for
delivery. He said he would act fast and do an x-ray that would reveal more.
That was on March 25, 2014.
“We did the x-ray but we were told that though they believed
in God, from all medical indications, there was no more pregnancy in the womb.
They said the uterus was elongated, blocked with a concentration of urine
fibroid and the white fallopian tube was outlined. They concluded that it was
fibroid. I asked if she could get pregnant and they said no.”
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| Hospital Matron |
Meanwhile, Oluwabunmi's stomach had protruded as if she was
due for delivery. People whispered wherever she passed in the neighbourhood and
her story was used for jokes. Bankole said he could not even think of sleeping
with his wife because of the delicate nature of her condition all through the
period.
“There was pressure from all corners—family, friends and
well-wishers—who all had their suggestions as to the solution. Some said we
were hearing wrongly from God,” he said.
Asked if he was not afraid that his wife would die in the
process of waiting for a baby, he said: “I did not worry about death at all. I
was only more inspired to wait on God. As a matter of fact, we stopped going
for medical opinion. As far as we were concerned, they had no good news for us,
so we resorted to our church and prayer.
“On the 10th of September, 2015, my wife became terribly ill
with signs of labour. I had to look for any hospital in sight because her
condition was bad. That was how we got to this hospital.
“After giving her the initial treatment, we were told to go
for another scan. To the glory of God, the doctor here said he had seen a baby;
that my wife was carrying four months pregnancy.”
But the mystery again was how the pregnancy could be four
months old when he was not making love to his wife, and his wife's protruding
stomach was there for all to see?
“At the church, the prophet confirmed again that the child
had all along been there; only that scan could not pick it. So the hospital
continued to nurture the baby for antenatal. But here again, they still saw
fibroid in the womb. But to the glory of God 27th January this year, our baby
finally arrived,” Bankole said.
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