We should not be blamed if mothers or their babies die at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, nurses have said.
They warned that operations at the hospital are at a standstill.
Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary general Seth Panyako yesterday said mothers should stop going to the hospital because there are no nurses to attend to them.
“We are advising pregnant mothers and all loving husbands not to take their wives to Pumwani because it is a slaughterhouse. We don’t want to be blamed if they or their children die or get lost,” Panyako said.
Addressing a press conference at a Nairobi hotel, he said cases of mothers dying while giving birth have increased because the nurses are on a go-slow.
“Two mothers lost their lives last week because there was no one to attend to them. Worse off there were no notes taken to explain the cause of the deaths,” Panyako said.
He said five people have sued the hospital following the deaths.
Speaking to the Star in his officer yesterday, Nairobi Health executive Benard Muia said the hospital is operating.
“Pumwani is delivering 10 mothers in every 24 hours. This is not the normal number but at least it is operating,” Muia said.
He said the county is taking administrative measures to restore normalcy at the country’s largest maternity hospital.
Nurses at the hospital have been on a go-slow from March citing threats by the community following the disappearance of twin babies.
Jacinter Wanjiku delivered twins at the hospital on January 6 but was told the babies were stillbirths.
DNA and postmortem showed the babies whose bodies were obtained were not twins.
They did not belong to Wanjiku and Dedan Kimathi, her husband.
The Senate Health Committee is investigating.
@MikeSonko, your praxis and pragmatic approach goes with signs of the https://t.co/V3Xo2QAI8K is a preferential option for the poor and the voiceless. In fact the so called nurses and doctors union concern on matter pumwani is just a mare defense mechanism to suit their ego.
— Kaka Maneno (@KakaManeno) September 20, 2018