Pumwani Saga: Husband Speaks Out After Wife Delivers Outside Hospital

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A screengrab of the incident outside Pumwani Hospital, Nairobi on Friday, September 18, 2020
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The husband of Jackline Faustina, the pregnant mother in the heartbreaking video that went viral after she was forced to deliver outside Pumwani Maternity Hospital, has narrated the harrowing ordeal.

The relieved father revealed that the family was yet to name the baby girl with documentation still proving to be a challenge since they are Tanzanian citizens.

He confirmed that the guards barred them from accessing the hospital on Sunday, September 13, forcing them to try and seek other options.

The Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi.
The Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi.
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"I was working when she called me. I rushed home with some medication but when I got home she was worse and rushed to get a taxi

"The guards blocked us from accessing the hospital. My wife was in the car and could not walk so we had no option. When we tried to take her to Afuani [Hospital], there was traffic so I was advised to take her back to Pumwani," he recalled. 

After getting back to Pumwani, he dashed into the hospital to ask the nurses to rush to the wife's attention.

He says the baby was then delivered by nurses from Pumwani with the help from Christine Gakii, a passerby who claimed that doctors from the hospital only came to the Jackline's rescue after she had helped the lady deliver a baby girl.

He added that he was shocked to find out the clip was trending days later after the incident as he expected the media to report on the story when it happened.

He, however, does not harbour any bad feelings towards to hospital for the delayed response in attending to her wife and he has also forgiven the security guards for not letting him in.

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris visited their home and donated baby items and foodstuff to the family.

"I came here today because I had heard the Pumwani side of the story. I saw the video and also talked to the family. I feel there some things that went right and others wrong.

"There were some nurses who were committed despite the strike to assist women. What I did not know was that the husband made two rounds before he could get assistance," stated Passaris. 

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris addresses a press briefing as she dispatched sanitary pads in Nairobi on April 1, 2020
Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris displays branded sanitary pads meant for donation at a press briefing in Nairobi on April 1, 2020
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