I need helper, mother of quadruplets cries out

These are not the best of times for Mrs. Grace Omatie Tijani. The thirty-something-year-old caterer and mother of many children has many concerns. For several weeks, Grace, who hails from Batel in Delta State, has been on admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi Araba, Lagos. During her stay at the health institution, precisely on October 1, 2013 – Nigeria’s Independence Day, she had the good fortune to be delivered of a set of quadruplets following a successful Ceasarean Section. The babies, three girls and a boy – Oritsematosan, Oritsewenyimi, Tuoyo and Temisan, weighed 1.65kg, 1.45kg, 1.60kg and 1.50kg respectively, at birth. The quadruplets are from Grace’s fourth pregnancy. Her first three pregnancies produced three boys – Farouk, Yusuff and Ishola. Prior to becoming mother of the nation’s first set of independence quadruplets, Grace went through a major gynaecological surgery for removal of uterine fibroids. On one hand, her successful fibroid surgery and CS have brought joy and gratitude, but on the other hand, they have been a major source of concern. “I need a helper,” she confessed to Good Health Weekly. “God should please raise a helper. We still have the bill of the operation to settle. My husband has been given the bill which is about N600,000. Yet the bill for the care of the quadruplets is stilll there. Now they are in the incubators and that costs money,” she stated. Grace who is still recuperating from effects of the multi-foetal pregnancy and multiple birth at the Ward D2 at the LUTH, is at a crossroads about successfully mothering seven very small children without a sustainable source of income. Source of income Narrating her ordeal, Grace said: “I’m a caterer, I’m usually called out for cooking assignments, but I stopped work as soon as I got pregnant. Although I had three boys earlier, I got pregnant again because I wanted a girl. I did not set out to have seven children and initially I was so sad and depressed when I was told I was pregnant with quadruplets, but I later became encouraged and grateful. I just accepted it as God’s will.” Continuing, she stated: “These children are a gift from God. I went througha lot to give birth to them, but I also have a lot to be thankful for. I went through severe pain, I really suffered. I had two surgeries, only the grace of God kept me TO BE CONTINUED