Residents of Kiandutu estate in Thika town yesterday pitched camp at the Thika Level Five Hospital demanding the hospital to produce an infant of one of their own, whose whereabouts the facility has been concealing.
They accused the hospital of mischief, saying it should come clear on the whereabouts of the infant who was born on Friday, and to stop taking the child’s father in circles after enquiring the whereabouts of his child.
The infant’s father Joel Maina says he got a tip off from some of the hospital workers that his child was born alive, but after demanding to be shown the infant, no one has since bothered.
“I hear it was a stillbirth, but the hospital has failed to show me the body. Again, they had my contacts and since Friday, they should have phoned and informed me of my child’s death,” said Maina.
Despite the alleged death of his newborn, Maina also had to bear the pain of seeing his wife Angelina Wanjue struggle for life at the intensive care unit after developing complications when undergoing cesarean section on Friday to deliver the baby.
He claims no one in the hospital bothered to inform him that the wife had to undergo CS during delivery, despite leaving his contacts at the hospital.
“When my wife was admitted at the facility, the infant was playing in the mother’s womb. She was taken to the theatre for a CS operation, and I hear the child was born well. When I visited on Saturday, the hospital blocked me at the gate despite identifying myself.
“On Sunday, they still blocked me only to force my way to the hospital on Monday to find my unconscious wife in need of another operation. They told me to sign documents which I obliged to save her as her condition was worsening,” he said
Maina said after the second operation, his wife was transferred to Intensive Care, and has since not been able to talk.
His pain is that since his wife was admitted at the facility, they have never talked to clear the air whether she delivered a live baby.
“I tried to reach her, but I was blocked. I talked to some workers at the hospital who informed me that the child was alive. Now that my wife is in ICU, she may never know what happened. I need her to get out fast to explain whether the baby was delivered alive,” he said.
All Maina wants now is to be shown the body of his child and a DNA test conducted on it to ascertain if he is the father.
He says he cannot trust the hospital due to the many scandals of disappearance of infants it has been involved in plus their attempts to block him from accessing the facility and of failing to call him to inform on any development.
“I read mischief in everything the hospital has done. That is why I want to be shown the infant, and a DNA test to be done on it before I can rest the case,” he said.
Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Jesse Ngugi claimed the infant was a still birth and is lying at the Thika Level Five Hospital mortuary.
He said the man had been denied access to the facility due to Covid-19 regulations and that they were doing everything possible to make sure his wife gets the necessary treatment to recover.
“The child was a still birth and the woman developed high sugar levels after the CS operation; that is why she was taken to theatre again,” said the Med Superintendent.
By Muoki Charles
