UPTH refutes alleged death of 14 babies in incubator

The University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) has refuted reports of the death of over fourteen babies in the hospital’s incubator due to power outage.

The hospital dismissed the report as false and intended at damaging the hospital’s image. Reports emerged at the weekend that doctors in the hospital suspended surgeries due to a power outage.

The reports which trended on social media for over two days also have that babies were dying in the hospital as a result of the power outage, while pregnant women were delivered of their babies by the hospital’s midwives using rechargeable lamps and phone touch lights thereby leading to the avoidable death of their babies.

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• UPTH refutes alleged death of 14 babies in incubator
• UPTH refutes alleged death of 14 babies in incubator

But the Acting Public Relation Officer of UPTH, Elabha Meni, while reacting to the reports in a statement, maintained that the hospital did not record any infant mortality in their Special Care Baby Unit SCBU nor did doctors suspend surgery procedures as speculated.

She, however, acknowledged that there was an electrical problem in the facility as a result of the faulty transformer, but stressed that no record of any infant mortality in the SCBU (inborn and outborn), as the standby generator serviced the hospital for the period, with all emergency areas fully powered.

Meni said; “Our attention has been drawn to a story of the fourteen (14) to Nineteen (19) babies dying in the hospital, this is not correct. Surgeries were never cancelled, and neither were our services disrupted.

“UPTH is a known centre for excellence, a citadel of training, research and health care delivery. The University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital is an institution, where the world’s best medical standards are practised and maintained.

“This also has helped make the institution one of the best medical centres in the South-south and Nigeria at large.

“However, it is quite saddening that certain persons try to tarnish the image of the hospital by spreading false messages and information that are inaccurate.

“The management of UPTH frowns seriously at such scandalous social media propaganda that is damaging its image. We want the general public to know that we remain committed in our service to humanity.” She said.

Reports had emanated at the weekend about how a medical officer at the hospital alleged that among the dead babies were the twin babies of a woman who had been looking for the fruit of the womb for seven years. She said the woman gave birth last month but due to the premature nature of the delivery, they were put in an incubator. They added that their relatives use their phone lights to aid doctors and nurses who are taking care of the person he rushed to the Accident and Emergency Ward.