By Olayinka Ajayi, Juliet Ebirim & SAM ANOKAM
Following reports of increasing rate of baby factories in some parts of the country, the Lagos State police command has debunked claim that baby factories exist in the state.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Deputy Superintendent, Ngozi Braide said there had not been any baby factory discovered in the state.   In a chat with Saturday Vanguard, Braide stated further that the only case heard in Lagos was that of an elderly woman that took two babies for immunization, she was discovered to be medically unfit to put to bed at her age, was later  nabbed based on a tip-off by the medical doctor  in a hospital based in FESTAC town.

The pregnant women paraded by DSS, yesterday.

“ People should get rid of such insinuation in their  minds as there have not been any baby factory discovered in  Lagos State. Some of the people the Nigerian police rescued were from other States. The only one we investigated in FESTAC Town was an elderly woman with two kids who went for immunization and the doctor suspected a foul play, that it was medically impossible  for her to be the biological mother of the babies.

So, the doctor alerted the area commander and immediately an investigation commenced. We arrested the suspect somewhere in Port Harcourt  and she was brought down to Lagos and was charged to court,” she said.

Process of keeping a baby

By The more illegal baby factories are uncovered, the more the lives of the innocent babies are endangered by lack of care from their biological mothers.

This is so because they are immediately sold, thus depriving them of the bond between mother and child. They are neither allowed to suck their mother’s breast nor are they allowed to enjoy the care, love and affection of their mother.

Looking at the effect of such abandonment and slavery, Dr. Justin Ihejieto of St. James Hospital, Apapa said:

“Normally, mothers attend ante natal care when pregnant. Mother and child would be under observation from time of conception. In the course of ante natal care, midwives, doctors would be advising on the type of food to eat, exercises to do, what to avoid and what not to avoid, monitoring of the baby to see if  he or she is alright.

From time to time, they will do scan to determine the condition of the baby in the womb. It continues till time of delivery. Some attend weekly, others once in two weeks. During antenatal, doctors conduct routine investigation to check if she is hypertensive, diabetic, HIV, and the rest.

“Then comes the post natal (after delivery), the baby will be observed for some days. Some observe for 24 hours or more. For traditional birth, they can go home same day. The mother then can be discharged after checking if she does not have any form of complication after birth like bleeding or infection.

The baby is also checked to make sure she/he doesn’t have any deformity. There will be appointment for mother to bring the child for routine immunization or for any other issue.

In the case of  a situation when a woman is unable to breastfeed  her child on account of ill health or that milk is not flowing from her breast or that the baby is stolen or sold, then artificial baby food like Cerelac, Nan, SMA Gold and the rest can be fed to the child.

The fact that a child is deprived of  sucking her mother’s breast will not in any way affect the growth of the child. The child will grow normally like every other child. There is really no cause for alarm except if the child is starved or ill-fed.”