Woman denied surgery at Pumwani loses baby

Faith Nzula, 26, expected to come out of the hospital with a bouncing baby when she went to deliver a month ago.

But she lost the baby and is now nursing wounds from a Caesarean  section (CS) surgery and a ruptured uterus. She may never be able to get another baby, at least not any time soon.

“I was told that my womb had been badly damaged,” Ms Nzula said during an interview.

She had walked to Pumwani Maternity Hospital on May 27 to deliver through an elective caesarean procedure. However, this was not granted, and she was forced to undergo a normal delivery despite having delivered her six-year-old boy through the procedure before.

She was told that the hospital was only handling emergency surgeries and not elective ones, despite the fact that the booking was captured in her clinic book.

“I delivered my first baby through a CS because the pathway could not open. I was advised that I should also undertake a CS for a second baby,” Ms Nzula said. She added that she had been attending antenatal clinic at the hospital and the nurses knew her condition.

But, when she arrived for the delivery on May 27, she was kept on hold for four days. When she started feeling pain, she was taken to the labour ward and induced to have a normal delivery.

“She explained to the nurses that the scar from the previous CS had become painful and she needed help, but she was not assisted. She was told to wait because there were other critical patients who needed to be handled before her,” said her husband Kevin Mugoha. She continued pushing until she ran out of breathe, he added.

“She was rushed to theatre on Sunday morning in a bad condition while still on oxygen,” he said. Her worst fears were confirmed in the theatre.

“I was told the baby had died. He had ingested the fluids in the womb and was stuck,” she said.

It is during the process of removing the baby that the womb ruptured, Mr Mugoha said.

Amidst the pain and confusion, Mr Mugoha parted with some money to a man, who he later learnt was a crook, to have his wife assisted.

This is despite the fact that mothers should not pay to deliver in public hospitals.

He sought audience with the doctor who performed the surgery.

“He told me that he was not responsible for what happened in the labour ward and that my wife had been brought to theatre in a critical condition,” Mr Mugoha said.

Speaking to Nation on phone, Pumwani’s Deputy Director of Health Elizabeth Kimani said the matter was being investigated.

“I confirm we had the patient here and she had complications. The issue is being looked into. We will get the officer who was in charge of the ward to tell us what happened,” she said.

As Mr Mugoha plans to bury his baby, he also wants justice for his wife.