A private hospital in Longonot, Nakuru County, is in a catch-22 situation after a mother abandoned her newly-born baby at the facility because of severe deformities.
According to the ITARC Hospital management, the mother was referred to the their facility from a local hospital after it emerged that she was having a breech birth – a situation when a baby is positioned in the uterus with their bottom or feet down instead of head down.
“Mtoto alizaliwa hapa, na mamake alikuwa amekuwa referred kutoka hospitali nyingine hapa. Ni watu ambao wametoka upande wa Umasaini. Mtoto alikuwa na breech presentation, ambayo ni mtoto kutoka tumboni akianza na miguu. Hapo ndipo hospitali hiyo ikamtuma kwa hospitali kubwa. So hapa ni level 4 hospitali so wakaja hapa,” says Benson Kimani.
But after the mother delivered safely through a normal birth, they discovered that the baby had a rare deformity.
The baby does not have a nose, just nostrils, her eyes are immediately above the mouth, while her skull is not fully formed.
“Skull ya mtoto haiko well formed, upande wa mbele hakuna skull. Uso wake hauko sawa, hana pua ni nostrils tu alafu macho yake yako right above mdomo wake. Mikono yake na miguu, ana kidole kimoja kwa the right lower limb, alafu mkono mmoja una vidole viwili,” Kimani describes the condition of the baby.
After giving birth, the mother is said to have rejected the baby, terming her as ‘cursed’.
“Mama mtoto akasema hamtaki, nguo alizomletea alikataa kumvalisha. Baba mtoto hakuwa lakini alituma familia yake, ambayo ilimkataa mtoto. Walisema ni afadhali aage,” he adds.
Doctors at the hospital tried explaining to the family why they should embrace the baby but to no avail. According to their community beliefs, the baby was a curse they were not ready to associate with.
As a result, the hospital has since resorted to taking care of the baby by feeding her with formula milk because the mother refused to clothe or breastfeed her.
“We have been taking care of her using NAN 1, we have also provided her with clothes because her parent refused to give us clothes,” Dr Muchai Kimani told journalists, adding that “we have also hired a caregiver who will take care of the child.”
Consequently, Dr Muchai says the hospital is urgently seeking an expert to conduct plastic surgery on the baby. “We want to appeal to the public to come in and help correct deformity then she will be able to be adopted.”
ITARC Hospital operations manager says that they have managed to get an expert from Kenyatta National Hospital for the corrective surgery, although the exercise is expensive.
