Lagos ‘baby-dumping’ mum mentally-ill –Husband

Dare Okunuwa, the husband of a nursing mother who placed her three weeks old baby by the roadside at Ile-Epo bus stop on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, has said she is mentally-ill.

It was learnt that the woman, Lateefat, went for a medical test at the Orile-Agege General Hospital, Ile-Epo, that morning in company with her husband.

She reportedly left the hospital unknown to her husband who was with a doctor.

City Round gathered that she wanted to dump the baby by the roadside when some people saw her and took her to the Oke-Odo Police Division, where she was later reunited with her husband.

Apart from the newly-born girl, Wuraola, it was learnt that the couple is blessed with four other children, aged between nine and 12.

They were not at home when our correspondent visited their residence on Erelu Bobagunwa Close, Jankara, in the Ijaiye-Ojokoro area of the state on Thursday.

Dare, a pastor, told our correspondent on the telephone that her wife started showing signs of mental illness soon after she gave birth three weeks ago.

He stated, “My wife sells clothes and I am a pastor. She started behaving strangely after she was delivered of our baby. At times, she would be talking to herself and will be harsh on our children. I took her to the general hospital that day for a test. I left her where she sat while I went to see a doctor. By the time I came back, I didn’t meet her there. I thought she went to the toilet.

“After 30 minutes, I became worried. I rushed home but I didn’t find her. I later learnt from some people at Ile-Epo bus stop that she wanted to dump her baby and that she had been handed over to the police. She said she did not intend to dump the baby; she placed her by the roadside to urinate.

“We were at a private hospital in Ogba on Thursday. The doctor asked us to come back on Sunday for a brain test to be carried out on her. He asked us to pay N20,000 for the test. I am still running around to raise the money.”

Dare said his wife’s bag containing N5,000 they wanted to use to buy drugs was stolen from her, adding that the police said those that brought her to the station did not give them any bag.

The couple’s landladyidentified only as Alhaja Idiatu, said she noticed something was wrong with the nursing mum a few days ago when she screamed from their apartment.

“I just came back from somewhere on Wednesday when I learnt about the incident. I don’t know what could have prompted her to dump her baby on the road,” she added.

But a public health consultant and Medical Director, Medical Centre of Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos, Dr Rotimi Adesanya, said Lateefat could be suffering from postpartum depression.

He said signs of such mental illness included talking to oneself, which the woman exhibited.

He said, “The woman has postpartum depression which normally happens in the first six weeks after delivery. Some women have depression after delivery as a result of some of the things they passed through in labour. It is a common condition but people don’t open up. This woman’s own has somehow reached its peak.

“Some women even go to the extent of killing their baby, though this is not common in Nigeria. The woman should be taken to a hospital, probably a psychiatrist. The baby also has to be taken to a paediatrician to be sure he is totally okay.”