A 35-year-old woman, Hauwa Usman Gambaki, from Gambaki village, 35 kilometers from Azare in Bauchi State, has safely delivered quadruplets, two boys and two girls, under the Comprehensive Emergency Maternal, Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CEmONC) programme of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

Hauwa, a mother of five, had no access to antenatal care and began experiencing heavy bleeding at home. Her husband, a peasant farmer with limited funds, rushed her on a long journey to the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare (FUHSTHA).

Our correspondent gathered that doctors diagnosed her with severe blood loss and immediately prepared her for an emergency caesarean section. What had initially been expected to be triplets turned out to be quadruplets. The surgery, blood transfusions, and medicines were fully covered under the NHIA’s CEmONC programme.

NHIA Director-General, Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, said the case underscores the agency’s mission to protect Nigerians from financial hardship when seeking medical care.

“People paying out of pocket is very scary and not the way to go,” Ohiri said, stressing that the intervention was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, noted that the programme reflects the administration’s commitment to expanding healthcare coverage nationwide.

“We are now at 20 million Nigerians enrolled in health insurance — the first time we have ever gotten to that. A few years ago, it was 16 million. So, we have enrolled 4 million in two years, and many states are moving in the right direction,” Pate said.

NHIA Assistant Director, Shamsuddeen Yahaya, hailed the successful delivery as a “national success story,” highlighting that it was carried out at no cost to the family.

The hospital community also rallied around the family, with the Chief Medical Director’s wife, staff, and well-wishers donating baby-care items to support the quadruplets and their mother.

Today, Hauwa is recovering, her babies are healthy, and her once-anxious husband is full of gratitude. For the family, the CEmONC programme was not just a policy, it was the bridge between despair and hope, between loss and life.

NHIA reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring no Nigerian is pushed into poverty because of healthcare costs.