The family of Mrs. Akubo Lovelyn John and the management of Gynescope Specialist Hospital in Lagos are currently fighting over the woman’s death, which happened a few hours after she gave birth there.
The John Family says that the hospital staff were careless with the woman’s case and even sent her to another hospital when they realized that her condition was growing worse, according to Vanguard.
Prof. Jude Okohue, who spoke on the phone, said that the hospital’s management refuted the claim. They said they did everything they could to preserve her life, and that two staff members even donated blood.
Mr. Justice John, the spouse of the deceased, told reporters in Ikeja, Lagos today that the tragic and avoidable tragedy happened early on Thursday, December 4, 2025.
“My wife and I had only been married for a year.” My wife and I signed up for prenatal care at the hospital when she was 13 weeks pregnant and went every week until she gave birth.
We spent Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N450,000) for this care, not including the confirmatory tests that were done at independent facilities on the instruction of the Hospital.
“During the antenatal sessions, there were regular tests, ultrasounds to monitor the fetal heartbeat, and routine pelvic exams. The tests done in the hospital and the ones done at other places to corroborate the results all came back good.
“It is important to say that my wife did not have any health problems before or during her pregnancy.”
“Also, during one of the antenatal visits in the third trimester, the Consultant and attending doctor, Dr. Joseph Aliyu Yahaya, told the mother how big the baby was.
“I expressed apprehensions about secure delivery methods and the potential for an elective Caesarean Section (CS) due to fetal dimensions.” The Consultant, on the other hand, ignored this. Their constant reassurances were what made us trust them professionally and personally.
My wife started having mild contractions on Monday, December 1, 2025. We got to the hospital on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, and the Medical Officer on Duty, Dr. Chukwuebuka Igbokwe, checked her out and said she was 2cm dilated. As a result, she was let in. She was moved to the labor ward on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. because she had dilated to 5 cm. Dr. Yahaya, the consultant gynecologist, started labor by breaking the amniotic membranes on purpose. I was there the whole time my wife was in labor.
John said that his wife had a spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) and paid about N1.2 million. The baby weighed 4.2 kg, which medical professionals say is fetal macrosomia (bigger than typical for gestational age).
He further said that not long after, his wife told him that she was bleeding and that there was a flow of liquid inside her.
“After this second procedure, my wife looked dead, pale, and unconscious for hours, and the bleeding didn’t stop.” The Consultant said she was bleeding internally, but she didn’t do anything to send us to another hospital or find an expert surgeon, even though the situation was quite bad.
“There was a clear 15-hour interval between the birth of our child and my wife’s death. Five pints of blood were needlessly given to my wife without first finding out where the bleeding was coming from, therefore the bleeding continued. It looked like the blood was coming out as quickly as it was going in.
John, who is a lawyer, said that it took the hospital’s management several hours to decide to send his wife to a government hospital on Lagos Island.
He said that as they were moving the wife from the third floor to the ground level, she slipped from the stretchers and asked for the close circuit camera footage of that day to be made public.
He asked the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Lagos State government, and others to look into the matter since he didn’t want his wife to die for no reason.
Mrs. Uchenna Akingbade, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association in Lagos, also spoke. She said that every citizen has the right to life and that the NBA would like an investigation into the incident to find out what really happened. The NBA would also like to help the deceased’s husband.
Dr. Tolu Aderemi, who is the head of the Lagos NBA’s Law Reform Committee, also said that the event should be looked into very carefully.
High Chief Raymond Ohaekeleme, an uncle of the dead woman, claimed that her niece deserves justice.
While explaining what transpired, Professor Okohue claimed, “It is not true that she was not referred on time.” I have been a doctor for about 30 years, and I have skilled and capable people working in the hospital. I can’t tell you all that happened, but it just took a few hours and it had nothing to do with the pregnancy.
“We had to stabilize the patient before we could send him or her to another doctor. You can’t just pick up a patient and send them somewhere else without first making sure they are stable. We did not wait hours after she was stable to send her to someone else.
“She gave birth about noon, and everything went smoothly until approximately 8 p.m., when we saw something. She even ate spicy soup that a family member provided her. After that, things changed. The blood transfusion began around 6 p.m. She received five pints of blood, and two hospital staff members gave a pint each to help her. One of my employees worked for an international oil company for almost 30 years as a doctor and other jobs. She started to leak from her bottom. That was weird.
“We didn’t spend time accomplishing what needed to be done. The family has even asked a pathologist at LASUTH to do an autopsy on her. I’m sure they would have told the family the results by now. We are happy that the coroner is looking into the case. Okohue remarked, “We have nothing to hide and we didn’t do anything wrong.”
He also revealed that Lovelyn didn’t fall as she was being transported down on a stretcher. Instead, she said she needed to go to the bathroom and was ordered to do so on the bed, but she insisted on going to the bathroom independently, so they quickly hoisted her up.
Okohue added that after the event, he went to see the family and was astonished by the calls and the sudden turn of events.
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