When Sheila Chebet, 20, learnt that she was pregnant, she could not wait to break the good news to her husband.
The news of expecting their first child warmed the hearts of the young couple who had just been married for six months. But sadly her husband died when she was five months pregnant in a road accident.
Her pregnancy went smoothly and on January 20, she was taken to Kuresoi Health Center while in labour.
In an unfortunate turn of events, Chebet claims she was neglected at the hospital. She alleges that she was left at the mercy of a doctor who appeared to be drunk, an ambulance driver and a security guard.
They took her to the labour room where she waited for four hours before her baby boy came into the world. But sadly it was a still birth.
“My husband died while I was five months pregnant leaving me walk this pregnancy journey alone. My child, whom I was eager to meet, did not make it alive because the doctors neglected me,” Chebet said.
Chebet’s mother-in-law, Ann Karanja, says when they arrived at the hospital they found the doctor-in-charge, who was in company of two men and a nurse who ushered the expectant mother to the maternity ward.
Ms Karanja clams that the nurse mistreated and hurled insults at Chebetm who was in labour, instead of guiding her on what to do.
“Being her first child, they needed to be gentle with her. Sadly, they were not,” Ms Karanja said.
Ms Karanja said that Ms Chebet was left with the doctor-in-charge, a driver and a guard in the labour room and she could only hear her screaming for help.
“I tried asking for a transfer but he declined insisting that he could manage. Two hours later, Ms Chebet was brought to the general ward while heavily bleeding without the baby. She, however did not disclose what had happened saying that she had been threatened not to say anything,” Ms Karanja said.
"They were harassing her, I pleaded with them for four hours to refer her to Kericho, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. They even told me that I was making their work difficult and they will treat her like a cow, which they did," she claimed.
The hospital management declined to comment on the matter adding that the case is being handled by officials from Nakuru County.
“I am having a lot of challenges in the health sector, we have had two incidents in Naivasha and Kuresoi. We are doing investigations to know what really happened to establish who was negligent.
“We are seeking to look into what this negligence is so that this cannot happen again one life lost is just too many. The Kuresoi mother is now stable but in time we shall be issuing a comprehensive statement,” Ms Kihika said.
