Erinma Laurette Chamberlin, said to be a 36-year-old Nigerian woman, reportedly delivered a baby girl, via Caesarean Section at a hospital in Mira Road, India, in September 2015 and has allegedly been confined to the 11th floor of the hospital since then.
She had anticipated complications during the pregnancy which was her fifth and she and her husband got in touch with the Wockhardt management to secure a medical visa. She was reportedly admitted at the hospital on September 15, and alleges she has been confined to the hospital’s room no. 1124 since then over inability to clear her medical bills.
Recounting her ordeal, Mrs Chamberlain said,
“Back home, several women undergo a Caesarean Section end up dead. Friends suggested I travel to India as the country has fantastic medical facilities. I didn’t know that I would have the worst experience here.
Around a month after the surgery, I asked the doctor whether I was fit for discharge, to which she said yes. I began to make plans for our return to Nigeria when the management told me I could not be discharged as I hadn’t cleared the dues. I told them that we had already paid $3,000 (around Rs 1.89 lakh), and promised to stay in the city till we paid our dues. But they did not discharge me and my baby and I have been living in this room, for which I am charged $180 a day.
They would warn me that I will end up in jail and now I will see the ‘other’ side of India. I am only allowed to take a stroll on the floor where my room is located. I am scared and worried, and my temperament is having a negative effect on my baby. Living in this room, I have lost track of time.
My only respite is that the nurses are really sweet to me and look after my daughter.”
Her husband, Chamberlin Chiemela Ezeama, who is in Nigeria, is said to have issued a legal notice to the Wockhardt Hospital alleging illegal detention of his wife and daughter. However, the hospital management has claimed she has been discharged and she and her baby “were allowed to stay at the hospital on humanitarian grounds” after her husband didn’t respond to calls and messages concerning clearing her bills.
“Her husband has not bothered to take the family back home despite repeated requests, even when the woman was fit to be discharged 15 days after admission. Her bill is now more than Rs 8 lakh, largely because of the unnecessary stay due to his non-response regarding settling the bill or taking his family back,” a hospital official said.
The hospital also claimed Mrs Chambelain is staying in the hospital on her own accord so her baby can get vaccinated.
The hospital management is said to have submitted complaints to the police, the foreigner regional registration offices, the Nigerian High Commission, and the Indian High Commission in Nigeria. A statement by the hospital read,
“The patient has been given the best of services. Nobody has barred the patient from leaving the hospital. The couple was unable to pay the entire amount due to constraints and a limit to the amount of money they can carry out of their country. The husband promised to send the money and said that the woman would stay in the hospital till the bills are settled. On numerous occasions, we had told her husband that her visa will expire, but he hasn’t taken any action. We have looked after the patient like a member of our family.”
Reacting to the hospital’s claims, Erinma’s husband said,
“I wrote to several government departments, including Sushma Swaraj’s office. I am ready to pay the dues but over a course of time during which my wife will stay in India. I am unable to visit India due to financial and immigration issues. But my wife and daughter are being wrongly detained in India. I have not yet held my daughter in my arms, I only get to see her on the phone.”
You can imagine the embarrassment??? There are loads of good hospitals in Lagos and Abuja and you went all the way to India to have a baby, now you’re all the over the tabloids for all the wrong reasons.
Isn’t this embarrassing?So there is no hospital in Nigeria that can carry out a successful CS?
They know what they are doing.The baby will remain there and start school.Thereafter the story will change
See this man oh. Pay up and let her leave now. Them never talk the agenda wey dem get yet. I believe the hospital over the man’s claim.
Which report will i believe now
Na wa o!
This story get K.Leg. There is more to it.
Imagine dt
Chie
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmmm
The story is complicated
Therr is more to this story we are reading
All the way to India for common cs?why go in the first instance if u won’t v money to pay but u had money for flight n other expenses? People can lie. They know what they are doing. There is more to it
All d way to India for CS. This is ridiculous. And to think dat they don’t have enough money to clear their bills. I believe there’s more to dis story jare
Abeg next time if u are looking for India doctors come to uyo akwa ibom state, ibom specialist hospital, atleast u want spend up to that and u will save urself thy embarrassment, thy hospital is world class, but Nawaz to u shai
Hmmmm!. The truth will surface one day.
At home or abroad it’s only God that protect though India is better.
Can u imagine
imagine her small brain.many women die from….idiot instead mk she talk say she wan born abroad.rubbish. mumu people wey dey spoil our name
See yeye
There is more to this
Una wan go india go do common C-sectionwhen u no u can’t pay while ordinary hospitals do
Perform the operation here and even at cheaper rate.Na una sabi
Serves them….right Nigeria has great hospital’s for things like cs of all places na India. ….mscheew
we have great hospitals in nigerria oooo
You can imagine the embarrassment??? There are loads of good hospitals in Lagos and Abuja and you went all the way to India to have a baby, now you’re all the over the tabloids for all the wrong reasons.
Isn’t this embarrassing?So there is no hospital in Nigeria that can carry out a successful CS?
They know what they are doing.The baby will remain there and start school.Thereafter the story will change
See this man oh. Pay up and let her leave now. Them never talk the agenda wey dem get yet. I believe the hospital over the man’s claim.
Which report will i believe now
Na wa o!
This story get K.Leg. There is more to it.
Imagine dt
Chie
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmmm
The story is complicated
Therr is more to this story we are reading
All the way to India for common cs?why go in the first instance if u won’t v money to pay but u had money for flight n other expenses? People can lie. They know what they are doing. There is more to it
All d way to India for CS. This is ridiculous. And to think dat they don’t have enough money to clear their bills. I believe there’s more to dis story jare
Abeg next time if u are looking for India doctors come to uyo akwa ibom state, ibom specialist hospital, atleast u want spend up to that and u will save urself thy embarrassment, thy hospital is world class, but Nawaz to u shai
Hmmmm!. The truth will surface one day.
At home or abroad it’s only God that protect though India is better.
Can u imagine
imagine her small brain.many women die from….idiot instead mk she talk say she wan born abroad.rubbish. mumu people wey dey spoil our name
See yeye
There is more to this
Una wan go india go do common C-sectionwhen u no u can’t pay while ordinary hospitals do
Perform the operation here and even at cheaper rate.Na una sabi
Serves them….right Nigeria has great hospital’s for things like cs of all places na India. ….mscheew
Imagine the embarrassment
See wahala