First Consultant Medical Centre Lagos has recorded another first, with an Ebola survivor and resident staff, Ada Igonoh, giving birth to a baby girl in California.
The baby, weighing nine pounds one ounce, was given birth to at the Greater El-Monte Community Hospital in California, USA. Igonoh is the only female medical doctor to have survived the deadly disease, and from conception till the birth of her child, she has been placed under proper medical surveillance in America.
Speaking recently with BusinessDay on the latest development, Benjamin Ohiaeri, CMD, First Consultant Medical Centre (FCMC), said: “We are excited because this is the first of firsts. Last year, we were visited by the dreaded disease. One year later, by the grace of God, we were saved from a national calamity and we have reason to celebrate.
“Most importantly, we are grateful to God that as we celebrate the first of firsts for our hospital and Nigeria, that we have so many people to thank. We have only four doctors that survived the Ebola last year, three of them are here, one of them is Ada who’s new born child we are celebrating.
“It is a celebration of life and a celebration for all Nigerians too. Normally, when you have Ebola and you recover, it is difficult to get pregnant, and when you get pregnant, it is difficult to carry the pregnancy. Ada made us proud; herself and her husband. We all stayed with them and by the grace of God, she carried the pregnancy. “I and Ada were invited by the Association of Nigeria Physicians of America. We went and we gave them a talk because they wanted to know how we can all engage in preparing our country at this point.”
Benjamin is also grateful to the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists of America who invited Ada and himself to share experiences with them because they also wanted to get involved in healthcare of Nigeria going forward.
Speaking also with BusinessDay, Fadipe Akinniyi Emmanuel, an Ebola survivor and medical officer at First Consultant Medical Centre, said: “Because of the way it happened. Many did not know. I went from home to the hospital and many did not know until I survived. But for some who knew about it, they stigmatised me. I spent 15 days in isolation and when I was cleared, I was extremely excited. Weeks after then, I had some symptoms like joint pains, limited movement and as time went on everything subsided. That’s why my CMD said it could be challenging for someone like Ada to have a child but the rest they say is history because Ada has a baby girl now and we are all celebrating her.”
The Ebola Virus was first reported in Nigeria at the FCMC in July 2114, after a Liberian lawyer, Patrick Sawyer, was confirmed to have contracted the virus. At least, seven persons died as a result of the disease, including the Liberian.
The World Health Organisation, in concert with the Centre for Disease Control, formally declared Nigeria Ebola Free on October 20, 2014.
