A couple, Mr Michael and Mrs Roseline Oaikhena, were denied the custody of their newborn baby, Ighodalo, for over three months due to an unpaid medical bill of N650,000 by a private hospital in Lagos State, Punch reports.

The hospital, Inton Hospital, Ogba, Ikeja, had allegedly vowed to put the baby in an orphanage unless the money was paid by the parents.

It was gathered that the baby’s mother, works as a teacher in a private primary school gave birth to a set of twins on February 10, 2018, at the Ifako General Hospital, Lagos.

The babies, which were premature, were reportedly taken to Inton hospital, where they were put in an incubator at the rate of N300,000 per week, but a week after, the female child died, while the surviving boy continued treatment at the rate of N150,000 per week.

The baby’s father, Michael, a driver, said the bill later rose to N1.2 million, adding that the surviving baby has now been moved from the incubator to a nursery, where he has been for over three months.

Michael, who hails from Edo State further revealed that the baby’s mother had been visiting the hospital to feed the child, adding that the child is being held over the N650,000 medical bill that they owed.

He said one of the doctors at the hospital recently called him and threatened that the child could be moved to a motherless babies’ home if the balance was not paid.

He said,

“My wife and I have been married for about two years. When she conceived, she went through a lot of stress due to the nature of her job and at a point, a doctor advised her to go for bed rest.

“She gave birth at the Ifako General Hospital when the pregnancy was about six months. We were unable to get an incubator at the hospital and our search for one in Lagos public hospitals proved abortive.

“She gave birth around 1pm and when we could not find any public hospital with an incubator, we settled for Inton Hospital. We got there around 11pm; their bill was N300,000 per week.

“However, after a week, we lost the female baby and we started paying N150,000 per week. The surviving baby has now been moved from the incubator to a nursery, where he has been for over three months.”