Husbands escorting their pregnant wives to the Bundung Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital in Bundung have expressed frustration over “long waiting hours” and perceived disrespect from nurses and midwives.
“I’ve been here since 8 am with my wife, and it’s now 12 pm. We have seen nurses chatting and laughing, but no one has attended to us yet,” said Abdoulaye Jallow, who escorted his seven-month pregnant wife Fatoumata Barry to the health facility.
“It’s like they don’t care that my wife is pregnant and needs attention,” Abdoulie bemoaned.
Another husband Modou Badjie shared a similar experience.
“I’ve been here three times this week with my wife, and each time, the nurse just told her to wait. It’s like her condition is being trivialized,” Modou lamented.
The escorting husbands emphasised their desire for better treatment and more attention from healthcare staff, particularly given the vulnerable state of their pregnant wives.
“We are not asking for much, just a little respect and care would go a long way,” said one husband.
Despite the challenges, the husbands remained supportive to their wives, accompanying them to appointments and offering words of encouragement.
“It’s tough, but we are in this together,” said Abdoulaye Jallow, smiling at his expectant wife Fatoumata.
“We will get through it, and we will have a healthy baby,” he said to his wife reassuringly.
Another husband Ousman Manjang complained that he was the first person to place her wife’s antenatal care card on the floor, expecting to be attended to but the nurse in charge mixed the card with the ones who did not come along with their wives and were not going to be given privilege.
“I was told a nursing student was the one who mixed up the card, but isn’t that itself negligence,” the apparently frustrated Ousman Manjang asked.
“How could you give people’s antinetal cards to a nursing student to jumble them up and waste people’s time,” he complained.
A nurse on duty, who requested anonymity, told JollofNews that nurses at the Bundung Maternal Hospital are currently working under intense pressure because most of their staff members are currently on leave.
Meanwhile, the hospital is highly regarded for its success in safely delivering infants to mothers and has received recognition for its commitment to baby-friendly support services.
