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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has recorded the birth of the first set of quadruplets under its Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CEmONC).
NHIA, in a statement, noted that the babies, two boys and two girls, were delivered through a Caesarean section on Thursday, 18 September 2025, at the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare, Bauchi State, after the mother, Hauwa Usman, 35, was earlier diagnosed with a set of triplets and malpresentation of the fetus, but eventually delivered quadruplets.
NHIA Director General, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, in his remarks, appreciated the fact that the mother was transported from Gambaki village, which is 35 kilometres away from Azare, headquarters of Katagum LGA of Bauchi State, to access the CEmONC programme.
Dr Ohiri, who was represented by Mustapha Mohammed, the Bauchi State Coordinator of CEmONC, noted that the prompt conveyance of the mother by her husband, Abubakar Adamu, to the tertiary facility during her peripartum period saved her life, the babies and protected the family from the catastrophic effects of huge financial bills.
He described CEmONC as a life-saving intervention of the government, thus urging families that have difficulty in paying for healthcare to continue to save maternal lives by accessing CEmONC intervention and other Vulnerable Group interventions of the NHIA at the designated facilities in various parts of the country.
He explained: “CEmONC is a life-saving emergency care for women and newborns for the vulnerable population in underserved areas like Gambaki village where Hauwa lives.
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“Therefore, the programme is intended to address the leading causes of maternal deaths in Nigeria and protect families from financial and social pain. For Hauwa, her family, and all other beneficiaries of the programme, all treatments are covered free,” he said.
The Chief Medical Director of the facility, Dr Dauda Katagum, represented by the Head of Clinical Services, Dr Sani Abdullahi Giade, appreciated NHIA for the intervention, which, he said, has saved many lives in the facility and provided succour to the vulnerable populations.
He noted that 422 pregnant women have benefitted from CEmONC programme in the facility, stressing that the quadruplets were the first to be delivered since the commencement of the programme in the facility and commended NHIA for the initiative.
On his part, the Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr Achanpa Anemona Sunday, said the patient came to the facility with diagnoses of triplets and malpresentation of the fetus, and was slated for an emergency Caesarean section, but she intraoperatively delivered quadruplets.
He appealed to the government and the community for social support to sustain the health of the mother and the babies.
Expressing his joy, Abubakar Adamu, father of the quadruplets and a peasant farmer, expressed his delight for the fruits of the womb and appealed for financial support to enable him to cater for the family.
