Cameroon outcry over razorblade operation to save unborn twins

Mobile phone footage of a woman without medical training cutting open the belly of a dead pregnant woman in a desperate attempt to save the life of her twins has provoked an outcry in Cameroon.

People were distraught as they looked on as the impromptu operation was performed

 The impromptu surgery was done in the open air by a family member with razorblades outside the maternity ward of Douala's Laquintini Hospital, because medical staff refused to help.

Marie Sen, Ms Koumateke's mother:

"The mortuary attendant even came and said the babies were still kicking inside the stomach"

 One of the babies was dead, but witnesses said the second baby was still alive when it was removed, though it died shortly afterwards. As they could still not illicit help from hospital staff, this has not been corroborated by medical experts.

The Koumateke family gathered last weekend to mourn

About an hour earlier, Monique Koumateke, 31, was nearly full term when her family rushed her to hospital in a taxi after she had become ill. The midwife on duty said told her relatives she was already dead and should be taken to the mortuary.

Opposition leader John Fru Ndi said the case highlighted the problems in Cameroon's healthcare system

 Then an attendant, Monga Luc, noticed the twins might still be alive. "The mortuary attendant even came and said the babies were still kicking inside the stomach," her mother Marie Sen told the BBC.
"We went to the maternity ward [again] but they chased us away."


However, when they went back to the main hospital, they were told no-one would help. This is when a relative of Ms Koumateke's partner, Takeh Rose, rushed to find some razorblades to see if she could rescue the twins.

Onlookers at the hospital two weeks ago filmed the scene and the footage was shared on social media.