IDP Fleeing War in Ambazonia Loses One of Her Quadruplets Poor Hospital Conditions in Bafoussam, Ferried to Bamenda for Proper Care

Angela Baleng’s four babies were delivered on Sunday, May 15 at the Bafoussam Regional Hospital. The children, all boys, arrived at 33 weeks, weighing between 967g to 1.525g.

The delivery comes after months of careful monitoring at the Bafoussam Baptist Hospital where an echography had been done to determine the number of children she was to deliver. Angela, therefore, knew that she had quadruplets.

Fresh news emerging from the Bamenda in the restive Southern Cameroons indicates that Angela has lost one of the quadruplets to poor hospital conditions. The facility where she had the babies in Bafoussam does not have the appropriate equipment to maintain the babies alive. Particularly, the absence of incubators is blamed for the demise of one of the babies. An ambulance from the Mbingo Annex hospital in Bamenda reportedly ferried Angela and the remaining three babies to Bamenda where they are currently receiving intensive care.

The Supervisor of the Neo-Natal Care Unit of the hospital in Bafoussam, Madam Mbaku Ernestine, previously reported that all four babies were doing very well a few days after delivery and were under effective monitoring.

The 34-year-old mother, Angela Nanga is internally displaced due to the conflict in the former UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons. She moved from her native Mankon in the North West to Baleng in the Western Region where she now resides. The quadruplets are her third delivery.

As an Internally Displaced Person, Angela has been facing numerous challenges with her children who have to share a single small room with her. The arrival of more children will doubtless make her difficult situation much worse. During pregnancy, she benefitted from a Community of Practice put in place by the Disability Inclusive Child Protection Program of the CBC Health Services in Bafoussam to ensure services for vulnerable persons.

Members of the Community of Practice render services and refer to colleagues for appropriate care in their respective domains.

Angela, who worked as a hairdresser in Bamenda before fleeing to the Western Region of the Republic of Cameroon, is depending on the goodwill of the general population to help get better accommodation and take care of her six children.