Health on Trial: Can Margaret Kenyatta maternity wing handle premature babies?
Former first lady Margaret Kenyatta tours the new born unit inside Margaret Kenyatta mother baby wing during the commissioning of the facility on October 17, 2018.
Standing in its distinct pink colour is the crown jewel of Nakuru County’s health sector and a constant reminder of the huge milestones the county has made towards maternal health.
The Margaret Kenyatta Mother Baby wing worth Sh 450 million has now been in existence for five years.
It has a 250 bed capacity and performs 18 to 25 caesarean section surgeries a day, in its four state of the art theatres.
A new born inside an incubator at Margaret Kenyatta mother baby wing in Nakuru.
A significant moment for the hospital came recently when it successfully delivered five children at a go.
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However, this joy was short lived when the couple lost all five children hours after birth on January 31 this year.
At the burial, the mother Mary Wairimu was not present as she was still recuperating in hospital.
The father, Simon Mwangi on the other hand followed the ceremony from a vehicle at the burial grounds, too broken to go near the grave.
And when he summoned up enough courage to observe the small coffin being lowered to the ground, his legs failed him, forcing his friends to whisk him back to the vehicle.
The medical superintendent at the time, Dr Aisha Maina said the babies who were born premature had organs that were not fully developed, therefore reducing their chances of survival.
It was this case that raised questions around the capability of the maternity wing to support premature babies.
Speaking to Mtaa Wangu on condition of anonymity, an inside source explains that although the death of the quintuplets cannot be exclusively blamed on the hospital, there is a gap in the equipment and personnel tasked to handle such delicate cases.
“When the hospital opened we had six Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines, that help premature babies in development and breathing for those born with severe cases. Five have since broken down, leaving only one,” the source said.
They further added that only a few medical personnel at the maternity know how to use the remaining machine, therefore posing difficulty in the event that one of them is not on duty.
Margaret Kenyatta mother baby wing delivers 40 babies in a day.
On the availability of incubators at the new born unit, our source reveals that they are not enough to handle the number of infants who may need them. The hospital delivers 40 babies per day.
"There are times when we are overwhelmed and there are no more incubators therefore we encourage mothers to employ kangaroo mother care, which offers similar conditions as an incubator."
In the event of a complicated case that cannot be handled at Margaret Kenyatta, our source says the baby is transferred either to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi or Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Mtaa Wangu therefore sought to understand why the five babies were then not referred to either hospital, despite admitting that there are inadequacies at Margaret Kenyatta.
“We only refer serious cases after assessing them and concluding that we are not capable of giving the required assistance. Unfortunately, in this case, the babies passed on before a decision on the best approach could be made.”
When reached for a comment, the parents and family of the five children refused to speak to us, as they are still grieving the loss of the babies.