Feeding Quadruplet Babies; Our Worst Nightmare - Ilohs
Mr. Obinna Iloh and Fidelia, recently welcomed four bundles of joy – two boys and two girls.The quadruplets are named Chidiebube, Chibikem, Chimamaka, and Chimobim.
Whe the new came to Obinna whose business had suffered a mishap in the last few months,that his wife had just been delivered of quadruplets, he was first emotive with mixed feeling before retracting down deep into despair.
Four months on, the couple, who have been married for about three years, are still calculating the cost of taking care of four babies in the current unsmiling economic condition.
Aside from the father’s business struggles, the mother of the quadruplets, Fidelia, who recently completed her compulsory National Youth Service Corps scheme last year, yet to be employed.
“To be frank with you, I wasn’t expecting four babies at a time. At a point, some people advised me to abandon them and run away because of the pressure, but I can’t leave them. These children are God’s gifts to me and I accept them wholeheartedly. But it has not been easy coping with taking care of four of them.” Iloh said speaking to Sunday Punch.
It was the same tale of despair from the young mother of the quadruplets. In her words; “Feeding the babies is a challenge . Four of them consume about one and a half tins of milk a day. So, we buy in cartons weekly. Breastfeeding is a challenge. The babies take turns. We do the breastfeeding four times in a day and every baby has a turn, so that everyone can boast that he or she has tasted the breast milk. So I have to eat a lot. When they cry or are sick, it is also a challenge for me. Although my mother came to stay with us for a period, before she left, taking care of four children has not been easy because I have only two hands and two legs.”
She intermittently sighed in the cause of the interview. The graduate of human kinetics and health education is still learning how to cope with nurturing quadruplets.
According to her, they spend over N100,000 for the upkeep of the babies in a month.
Iloh said, “We spend N54, 000 on purchasing only dairy milk for the babies monthly; another N30,000 to pay the nannies, and about N20,000 to take care of other expenses, such as buying fuel for the generator, due to poor electricity in the area where we reside, buying bottled water, as the tap water is not hygienic enough for babies’ consumption. We buy two cartons containing 12 big-sized bottles of water every month. Also, there is the extra cost of drugs (infants get free treatment in general hospitals in Lagos).
“As the babies grow, we are going to be expecting greater challenges, especially in the area of their education and in other aspects. My husband is the sole provider for the family as I don’t have a job yet. So, these expenses have affected our income as a family,” she said.
With their finances already stretched to the limit, the Ilohs have been living on the goodwill of family and friends to cater for the needs of the babies.
“We are just ‘managing’ now. The cartons of (dairy) milk we presently use were given to us by our relatives. But only two tins are left now. We provide other things by ourselves.
The Ilohs are not alone in their predicament. Trust there are plethora of similar cases out there. The economic situation is way too harsh - anonymous added.
