The joy of motherhood turned sour for a woman who was forced to give away her newborn baby when she was detained at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) over unsettled dues.
An exposé by Citizen TV featured Susan Njeri Wanjiru, who had to give her child to a good Samaritan as she spends her days on the floor in one of the rooms at the referral hospital.
Wanjiru stated that she delivered her baby at Pumwani maternity hospital but developed complications thereafter.
"I was brought to KNH and treated. I was later brought to the room when my card could not cover the bill. My bill came to Ksh 53,000 and sleeping in this room, one is charged Ksh 1,200 a day," she explained.
Journalist Purity Mwambia traced the child to the trusted caregiver, Jackie Mureithi, a resident of Embakasi area.
"I feed her milk and stay with the child. I'm grateful she hasn't developed any complications. I can't go to work or far and if I have to go to the shop I go fast and come back to look the baby," Ms Mureithi told the reporter.
Wanjiru is only one of 20 women detained having suffered from birth-related complications with some separated from their newborn babies.
The news crew uncovered the room where women slept on the floor over unpaid bills.
Another mother, Margaret Taka, who has been detained for the past two months, stated that the staff was indifferent to their plight.
"When I went to check for my bill, I was chased away as they demanded I call someone to check for me, but I have no one.
"We are suffering, there are bedbugs here that give us sleepless nights and the staff can't give us blankets when we ask for them," she lamented.
Similarly, Eva Njeri has been detained for the past three months, over a Ksh 28,000 bill. She stated that she only had her grandmother who did not have the ability to pay the money.
However, the hospital's administration refuted claims that there were patients detained at the hospital.
In an earlier presser, Health PS Susan Mochache stated, "There are no patients detained at the hospital because of nonpayment of their bills."
Here is the video courtesy of Citizen TV:
