Apparently worried over the outrageous childbirth medical bills in Ondo under the administration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, pregnant women on Thursday staged a protest, grounded activities at Ondo State Specialist Hospital, in Akure.
According to a witness, who spoke to TheNewsGuru.com on the peaceful demonstration, the protesters reportedly demanded that Akeredolu reverse the new ₦25,000 bill for normal delivery which was absolutely FREE (including caesarean section, CS) under former Governor, Olusegun Mimiko.
Our source quoted one of the pregnant women: “ This is not the Ondo we used to know, under Mimiko, we don’t pay a dime to get maternal care, in fact the government gives us maternal kits that contains some of the things we will need in the persiod.”
Hitherto free delivery at the Mother and Child Hospital by the immediate past administration where pregnant women in the state had their safe delivery without paying any fee has now been abolished. Sometime last year, a mother and her new born child were detained at the hospital over failure to pay for the fees demanded by the hospital. It took the intervention of a philanthropist who raised the said amount before she could be released.
Under Akeredolu, the health sector in the state according to critics is nothing to write home about. Apart from the crazy bills for pregant women, there has reportedly been dearth of personnel, especially doctors and nurses at the hospitals, thereby putting the lives of patients in danger during emergency.