Why we operated battered pregnant woman – Doctor

The Medical Director of Mercy Hospital, Fagba, Lagos State, Dr. Abdulkareem Shehu, says an emergency surgery had to be performed on Alexandra Ossai, the woman who was kicked in the stomach by her Lebanese boss.

He added that the operation was necessary to save her life as the kick had affected the seven months pregnancy she was carrying at the time.

 had exclusively reported that Ossai, a supervisor at Toppan printing company, Ikeja, was allegedly kicked in the stomach by the company manager, Kaveh Noine.

Ossai developed complications few days after the kick, causing her to undergo emergency surgery.

Shehu told  that he had received a call in the early hours of Monday December 16, 2013 that Ossai, a 34-year-old mother of one, was bleeding.

“I am friends with Ossai’s family; I have known them for a while. On the day of the surgery, I got a call around 3am from her elder sister that Ossai was bleeding. I was surprised. Bleeding during pregnancy was bad, so I told them to bring her to my hospital.

“Ossai was in grave pains and was losing blood. I had to call my surgeon to come in. There was no time to refer Ossai to another hospital; I was afraid that she would give up on the way.”

Shehu told PUNCH Metro that the surgeon had described Ossai’s situation as Placenta Previa or Placenta Abruptus.

Ossai’s case was said to be unusual in pregnancy because the placenta was brought out in tatters. The doctor added that clotted blood was brought out from her abdomen. Shehu said, “Only two things might have caused this situation; it is either she was involved in an accident or she was involved in a fight with someone.

“Her baby was brought out dead. Immediately Ossai’s placenta disengaged from the uterus, there would be no blood supply to the baby so it died. We had to give her two pints of blood because of what she had lost.

“Ossai has been discharged from the hospital and is recuperating at home. After your (The PUNCH) initial publication; I had to discharge her because so many people were coming here to see her; I was worried for her safety.”

Despite Ossai’s ordeal, Shehu said the experience would have no effect on future pregnancies.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Area F police command on Saturday had taken statements from Ossai and her aunt, Mrs. Olabisi Jaiyeoba.

It was also learnt that apart from President Goodluck Jonathan’s order to probe the incident, the Lagos State Public Advice Centre had taken up the issue and promised to “follow it to a logical conclusion.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, said the case had been taken over by the Lagos State Police Command headquarters.

She said, “This case is no longer at Area F,  it has been transferred to the Lagos State Police Command and an investigative team, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, is handling the case.”