Baby dies after falling headlong from womb
What you need to know:
- On admission in the labour ward, she alerted the nurses that the baby was due but they did not pay heed
- He, medical superintendent Cyrus Njoroge, attributed the tragedy to the severe shortage of nurses. The hospital has 250 but requires 600
A woman lost her baby while delivering at Nyeri Provincial Hospital due to what she terms as negligence by nurses.
Charity Wanjiku, 27, said she was taken to hospital by her husband at midnight on Wednesday with severe labour pains.
On admission in the labour ward, she alerted the nurses that the baby was due but they did not pay heed.
“When the nurses ignored me I stood up due to the pain and that’s when the baby came out and fell head first onto the floor and later died,” she said.
Her husband, Mr Peter Ndigirigi, said after his wife was admitted he went home, but his wife later called him to inform him of the baby’s death. On arrival at the hospital, he was intercepted by security officers who almost turned violent.
“But one nurse was kind enough to explain calmly to me how our son died,” he said.
The 29-year-old father of two daughters, aged 10 and 6, said he was really looking forward to the birth of a son.
The distraught father remarked: “I wonder if they are mistreating patients because maternity services are free.”
Nyeri hospital medical superintendent Cyrus Njoroge said the hospital had six patients that night, some of whom needed emergency operation, and only four nurses.
Mr Njoroge said the nurses advised Ms Wanjiku to lie down but she could not owing to severe labour pains.
He attributed the tragedy to the severe shortage of nurses.
The hospital has 250 but requires 600.
