Woman gives birth to twins in Lagos bank

                       
There was drama on Friday in front of the First Bank branch located at Elephant House, Broad Street, Lagos as a pregnant woman delivered a set of female twins outside the bank.

The woman, who was simply identified as Iya Daniel, suddenly went into labour in front of the bank. And before onlookers knew what was happening, they saw a baby making its way out of her. This prompted the women around to form a wall around her to keep away prying eyes.
They then covered her and the babies with their wrappers. One of the women who assisted in the delivery of the twins, Mrs. Lilian Nnadi, told Saturday Mirror how it happened: “I was just coming out of the bank when I saw the woman and I had to rush to help her when I saw a baby coming out of her, so that the head of the baby would not hit the ground.
So I and another woman tied a wrapper round the baby. But as we wanted to cut the cord, we saw another baby coming out of her and people were shouting that they were twins.
It took a little while before the placenta came out. We had to use palm oil to facilitate the passage of the placenta. Speaking on the development, a top official of Broad Street branch of First Bank, who pleaded anonymity confirmed the development to Saturday Mirror.
“I heard commotion outside the bank and was told that somebody fainted. But when I got outside, I was told that a woman had given birth to a set of twin babies and that they were looking for wrappers to cover her and the babies. I had to run around and look for wrappers to cover her.
We then went to a nearby private hospital to report the incident, so that the woman could get medical attention. But when we returned, we learnt that the woman had been taken to an unknown destination by her people.” Saturday Mirror caught up with the new mother and can authoritatively reveal that she is 38-yearold Esther Ami.
Speaking with our Correspondent, Ami recounted what led to her giving birth on the street. “All through the night, I was in pain and I was just waiting for the morning to come so I could go to the hospital.
And we were indeed on the way to the hospital. But when we got to the front of First Bank, I felt as if I wanted to give birth. So I told my sister, who was with me, that we should just tarry a bit in front of the bank and see what would happen.
“Then suddenly, I felt like something was released from my body. And when I reached down with my hand to see what it was, I felt I was holding something. I called my sister and said ‘I’m holding something but I don’t know what it is.’ I didn’t realise then that I was holding the head of a baby.
“Women suddenly started emerging from all corners. They gathered around me and covered me with their clothes. They instructed me to push so that the placenta could come out.
I didn’t even know how the taxi that took me away from there materialised. And I didn’t even know another child was coming after that first one, as it took a long time for the second one to come.”
When she was asked if she wasn’t already aware that she was carrying twins, she said, “I knew from the result of scans. But it took so long for the second one to come. And in my condition, considering the situation, I almost thought it was just one baby coming.”
Also speaking with Saturday Mirror, Mr. Taiwo Olowu, the traditional birth attendant who was in charge of Ami’s antenatal care, and in whose custody mother and babies were deposited after the traumatic open-air birthing, said he thanks God for Ami’s safe delivery in her unusual situation.
Olowu, whose midwifery centre is located in Lagos Island, said he has been in midwifery for thirty years and was the one who helped Ami in the antenatal care and delivery of her first child, Daniel, and had been supervising her antenatal care when she was pregnant with the twins.
He was emphatic that stress contributed to Ami going into forced labour. “We always advise pregnant women to avoid stress. But Ami is the type that doesn’t really rest in the course of going about her daily business and that is what led to her forced labour.
“Now, mother and babies are in my care and I’m taking care of them appropriately. When they arrived at my place, I divided their placentas. And since we cannot bathe newborn babies like them, we are cleaning them. Happily, mother and twins are doing okay.”