Pumwani Maternity Hospital has admitted it lacks cooling facilities to preserve bodies. The hospital has a holding area for infants who die at the facility, but no mortuary.
Yesterday officials said 11 bodies were at the hospital on Monday, not 12 as claimed.
Nairobi governor Mike Sonko made a great show on Monday of ‘raiding’ the hospital and finding 12 dead babies wrapped in plastic bags and stuffed in boxes.
He suspended officials and the board. The theatrics were streamed live on Facebook. Acting Nairobi Health executive Veska Kangongo yesterday said, “We are working on having a cooling facility.
We have a room where the bodies of the 11 infants were found and they are put in a polythene bag,” she said during a press briefing at Pumwani. Kangongo said bodies are taken from designated rooms on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The hospital has denied the infants died during an emergency, saying the deaths were “normal”.
“There’s an inquiry led by the DCI. We have a medical board and ministry representatives. The report will be out shortly,” Kangongo said.She said the hospital has no ambulances and is trying to get them.
Nairobi Health chief officer Mahat Jimale said they will restore order at Pumwani. “We can account for every child’s body found yesterday with the tagging and notifications of death,” he said.
Mahat said of the 11 deaths that occurred from September 11-17, they had recorded 244 deliveries. “Of the 11 deaths, new births were four where they had low kilos and no heart rates and two died out of labour obstruction.
Two were stillbirths and died of protracted labour and haemorrhage, two were prenatal deaths. Some mothers arrive with complications like clampsia and obstructed labour.
Pumwani obstetrician Dr Nelly Bosire said in five months there will be a maternal ICU and prenatal ICU to prevent infant deaths.
“We will have kangaroo mother care and breastfeeding banks so infants don’t died for lack of milk,” Bosire said.The hospital admits 60-100 mothers daily.
[Video] Wahudumu wa Pumwani watoa taarifa yao #SemaNaCitizen: Kamati ya Seneti yazuru hospitali Pumwani kutokana na hali ambayo miili 11 ya watoto wachanga ilipatikana imewekwa kwenye karatasi za pplastiki. C.. https://t.co/Jwi0Soi94L
— Breaking News (@News_Kenya) September 19, 2018