WHY WE SHOULD ALL KEEP OFF NAIROBI WOMEN'S HOSPITAL (PART IV)

If we all try and put our morals before our personal interests, then I am sure we shall make Kenya a better place to live in, if not by improving its situations then by helping avoid its citizens being taken for a one-way ride to their graves. For those who still have this image of Nairobi Women's Hospital being an exclusive institution for abused women and children, I say open your eyes very wide and your ears too because even the sponsors will soon realise that they are barking up the wrong tree. At this point, I am glad to be still in a position to exercise my freedom of speech, thanks to the social media. If at all you haven't read Parts 1 , 2 and 3, find them so that you may understand the whole point of our militaring for this cause.

FACT : people die every other day under various circumstances, afterall, death is inevitable and we are all bound to die but if it can be avoided, then we shall have less broken families, less broken homes and less fear for our medical institutions. In this age and era, for someone to tell me that it is normal if premature triplets die because Kenya has just reached a point where twins are saved from the jaws of death, I say shove that BULLSHIT where the good sun never shines! Because I know of twins born way back in the 70s, prematurely and they survived the whole ordeal to live to tell the story. Thirty years down the line the country is still grappling with improving its facilities ? or maybe its the case of doctors no longer read from the same script ?

When deaths and stories about how a woman's thigh were burnt whilst undergoing surgery or how one checked into the hospital only to wake up three months down the line, paralyzed, and many many more that you have already read or with patience are going to read are anything to go by, all emanating from one institution, the Nairobi Women's Hospital, then I say FUCK the right channels because we all know that nothing can ever be corrected in our beloved and very corrupt country Kenya ! If you think am pulling your leg, check out the analysis on Julie Ward's killings and how his dad struggled yet the culprits were and are still having it good. It's a long read, but by the end of it, you will find out why we are not bothered to follow the right channels. Our main aim is not to see the closure of NWH (it would be best though), but only to sensitise people on what they are going to face when they get there, if at all they get out alive.

1.      Mine wasnt a maternity case, but a surgery on my neck. I had a surgery last December (2011) at their Rongai branch. It was a minor one actually it was just a biopsy and it costed me over 40k.!!! After the surgery, my mum didn't even get to talk to the surgeon coz apparently he wasnt a resident surgeon so by the time I left the theatre,he was gone already. One nurse talked to me and told me the stitches they used were the ones that didn't need to be removed. They didn't give me any medication after that, no antibiotics and no painkillers either. I had to buy some paracetamols when I reached home coz of the pain. After a week, I became sick, I went back to the same hospital, parted with some more cash only to be told that it was infection of the wound. The doctor was shocked that I hadn't been given any antibiotics earlier after the surgery so I had to buy some at the hospital. After another week I was back again at the hospital coz the wound was oozing pus. I found another doc and he was also shocked that the stitches were not removd.I explained to hm thta i was told they didn't need removal and he insisted they were to be removed, since the wound was not dry, they decidd to do some dressing and told me to go back afteer three days so they may remove the stitches-the dressing costed me kshs.700!!! I decided enough was enough and went to a different hospital where they removed the stitches, did some dressing n i only paid ksh.100. and i had an appointment there after every 3 days for dressing and imagn they didn't charge me even a cent thereafter...i think the problm with the NWH is they have too many trainee nurses and very few qualified ones. If mine was a very minor surgery, I wonder what others with major surgeries go through.

2.      I have read your article about the NWH, and am so sorry for what happened to your sister. 
I once fell a victim in the year 2005 when i was expecting my first born and i thank God i never delivered in that hospital. i was going for my ANC (hurlingum) there and i felt exploited when i was diagonised with DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis), very severe blood clot on my thigh. According to the doc, it was meant to be an emergency but it took me a whole 24hrs before i was taken to Acacia (upperhill) for the scan, and to make the matters worse i was made to pay for the so called taxi (2500sh). the scan was 6k all that under my account. my 10 day stay there made me feel like i was in hell. they have no Hematologist, who had to be called from Nairobi Hospital. When i asked for a referral, to a better equipped hospital they dodged my request. i was on blood test twice a day!!!!! later after 7 days a so called hematologist comes back and says that my blood is more diluted and they have to make it more thicker to reduce the risk of hemorrhage during delivery.  this is the time they noted who they were dealing with! i refused to be on drip, to take any medication until am explained to how and when that happened and who was this who was this careless. it took me my cousin to intervene and i had to stay for 3 more days...... and the 10th day came, i want to leave the place, i ask for the bill, am taken round and round until 12noon when i storm at the cashiers place fully dressed ready to leave. a shock on me when the bill i printed and its amounting to 90,000!!!!! i felt like collapsing but my sisters were there. i looked at, took a pen, ruled out all the stuff i thought i never used, and these so called 'hematologist' had 4 visits which i never saw each at the cost of 2500!!!! after all that i said i could only afford 70,000sh inclusive of 30,000 deposit. this made me wonder does it mean that they dont have fixed rates. or does it mean that if you dont negotiate, you will pay what they tell you? from 90k - 70k!!!!

After some weeks, i went back and i felt i needed to visit another facility and i decide to ask for my file and for them to refer me to another hospital!!! and this is where hell broke loose, was told to pay 5k for them to remove the file and i had to see the so called CEO and to make the matters worse they wanted to admit me back coz i was already in my 3rd trimester.they argued it could be an emergency case   . i just walked out and i've never gone back there. i had to carry my medication, scans to St. Mary's Langata and just explain to them what i had gone through. thank God the Docs there have had such scenarios and i delivered there. no problem and now my son will be 7 years in August.

3.      I am in the group of Kenyan moms on fb, and I go by the name, xxx.
Kindly keep my identity anonymous if you will share my story. Just want to share my short sad story, hoping it will help another mom out there.

Nairobi Womens Hospital was my choice of hospital in 2003 as I was expecting my first child. They had a good package that could fit my pockets back then. Always went for my clinics faithfully. My baby was due on July 11th 2003, but on the night of May 10, I had strange pains, dint know it was labor. my partner and I were naive, so we rushed to hosi. on reaching there, the doc who attended me said I had dialted 8 cm and was to deliver the baby in afew hours. I was then admitted and at 11.30pm, my beautiful daughter Nicole was born, weighing 1.5kg

She was put in an incubator and I was told it will take her a month or so till we could take her home. as usual with all prem babies, there r good days and really bad ones. But amongst all other prems who were there with my daughter, mine was really putting on weight fast. the only problems we had were with Jaundice but that was dealt with.

When she weighed about 1.8kg, that's when our problems started. i only knew one doctor(name with held), and I believed she was great with Nicky. but on the morning of 11th June, I reached the hospital and found my daughter bleeding from her stool, mouth and nose. there was no one to explain what was happening. other moms said my daughter had trouble all night. no one called me to hospital when my baby was suffering. so at 2pm......my beautiful Nicky took her last breath.

There was a male doc who was there there the last 10 min of her life, but he dint explain anything to me. said I should talk to the Paed I knew from the start. The female doc was nowhere to be found, she only sent me her invoice. Efforts to look for her for an explanation dint get us anywhere.

What was interesting, the hospital was very quick to tell me to release my baby to them and they will save me the grief of burying her. at that point I was so emotional and I wasn't thinking straight, so I agreed.

Not so long ago, 9 yrs later, I met one of the moms, who was in hosi with me, also had a premature baby. She told me that what I dint know is that the two Pediatricians attending to my daughter, had a disagreement about my daughters health, hence the mistakes. My baby dint have to die, but she did, and is just another Angel in heaven. I am now a proud mom of 3 babies, 2 boys and a gal(also born prem but survived).

The one huge mistake with this hospital is NEGLIGENCE.

Reasons:

i)  my daughter dint have to be born prem. during my pre-natal visits, the OBS/GYN should have realised I had a short cervix and would have done a MCdonald stitch. This procedure was done to me as I was expecting my other 3 babies and two were born term, the 3rd came prem coz of pre-eclampsia.

ii) The disagreement between two docs had nothing to do with my daughters well being. dint they know of the saying...'too many cooks spoiled the broth'?

*P.S Nairobi womens hospital started their malpractice along time ago, even before they had all these branches. Silence from people like me has costed other babies and mamas their lives. Lets wake up and do the right thing now.

4.      I've seen ur post. My sister gave birth there too some years back. The umblical cord was not cut well and the baby developed some complications with the navel and required a surgery. The baby died at 7 months before the surgery could be done.

5.      Thanks Suzanne for you reply. This is my story. I blame the staff attitude as well, from the nurses, however not all of them are bad. There are some rotten apples and some good ones. In 2007, I went into labour on a Sunday morning and left for Nairobi Womens H, Hurlingham at 7 am. The reception was ok, cant complain. I was taken to a private room where I stayed getting checkups from the nurses. My Obstetrician came seven hours later to check on me, then advised the nurses to induce me. I didnt have a problem with that because I wanted it to be over, however the pain increased a hundred times after induction. Three hours later, at 5pm, I delivered my lil angel. Fortunately, my obstetrician was there so he did an episiotomy and stitched it. But then he disappeared immediately after that. I was taken back to the room to recover. I was so exhausted and hungry but at the same time I had nausea. I tried to eat but it came out. Then I decided to rest abit before going to check on my LO. My hubby decided to see his friend off and let me rest for a while.

While I lay in bed I felt like the bed was getting soaked. I called then nurse and she explained to me that bleeding is a normal process after delivery. I figured, well, that is true but how much is normal? So she told me to relax, that everything is fine. I decided to sit up, then I felt some gush of warm fluid flowing, at which point I thought, that cannot be normal. I rang for help but no one came. I rang several times, still no one came. I decided to go personally to the nurses desk with the drip stand still attached.

The moment I rose from the bed, I felt faint and almost fell. I slowly sat on the bed then lied down but this time not inbetween the sheets. I decided to call my husband who was still within the hospital. I explained to him what was happening and since he knew post partum haemorrhage (bleeding after birth) is a killer, he wasted no time. In a few seconds he had arrived. He asked me to  roll over so that he sees, then the expression of his face changed. I could tell he was shocked. He walked out of the room and ordered the nurses to go to my room and see for themselves. Since he had identified himself as a doctor, the nurses knew they would be in trouble if what he was claiming was true. Suddenly my room was filled with nurses.

The nurse who had reassured me earlier that it was normal was asked if she has taken my blood pressure reading and she said she hadnt. So she was asked to do that straight away after helping me into clean clothes and a change of bedding. As she was taking the BP, I could see there was a problem, because three times the BP machine read 'Err'. She went and got another BP machine and this time I couldnt see what the reading was as she positioned it in a way i could not see, so I asked her what the reading was and she said..'Its okay'. I asked her for the actual reading and she declined and said, 'dont worry, just know its ok'. She left hurriedly and came with another much older nurse ... a mid-wife I think... who took the BP measurement again and from the expression on her face, it did look like an emergency. I had already started seeing blurry images, feeling cold, and sweating. I was going into shock.

So I was taken to what seemed like a theater then ( I can hardly recall because I was almost passing out), and what I went through, was what saved me. All this time, my obstetrician was nowhere. I owe my life to this nurse/mid-wife. I was totally unprepared for the trauma I went through. The struggle to stay awake was boosted when suddenly this massive hand was thrust through and what I can only describe as scrapping with the hand, was done to remove any retained placental tissue, a procedure known as manual evacuation of the placenta. The pain was excruciating owing to the fact that I had just been stitched and the anaesthesia had worn out. I remember thinking of my new baby, wondering whether I will ever hold her, whether I will ever see my family again. I kept struggling to stay awake and persevere the pain as well. I just wanted her to hurry up and stop the bleeding because the longer it took, the more likely I would die on that table. I had seen it happen in the labour ward of a different hospital in a rural setting as a student and I knew, it happens in a matter of minutes.

Fortunately, after six hours of repeated scrappings, packings and massaging it was over. Thanks to the mid-wife who was very professional and supportive, I think I wouldnt have made it to see my family again. She really put up a struggle. When I was finally taken back to my bed at mid-night, I kept asking myself why would that nurse tell a mother that bleeding is normal after delivery. Yes, it is but how would someone know what is normal and what isnt? It later ocurred to me that they (nurses) were changing shifts and so the ones who were attending to me wanted to 'hand-me-over' to the other nurses and leave quickly. More like dump me and get on with their night offs. In my opinion, it is best to have an experienced mid-wife around during and after labour as opposed to having an obstetrician. They just appear at the point where the baby is about to pop then disappear, regardless of the potential danger of bleeding to death. I was discharged three days later, and slapped with a huge bill, and that of the obstetrician whose role was to do an episiotomy, a procedure which was done the second time, at a different hospital by a mid-wife at a more affordable cost. My two cents about delivering a baby in any hospital in Kenya is that you have to have an experienced mid-wife by your side, unless your obstetrician decides to stick by you before, during and a little after delivery, to ensure everything is ok. The worst thing that can happen during a delivery is bleeding, which kills rapidly. I got lucky, because of having a husband who is a doctor, what about other mothers? Who will speak for them in such times when there is an emergency?

6.      It's my sincere hope that your "EMERGENCY ROOM" is well equiped now to be a REAL EMERGENCY ROOM. How would an emergency room not have ready oxygen? For Heavens sake! My baby really suffered waiting for someone to go for a cylinder from I have no idea where - for close to 1 hr still very desperately waiting for OXYGEN. No one even apologised for the delay. Infact, it was our proposal for the baby to be put on oxygen.

Maternity wards have gud services, with cooperating sisters, wait until when I took my baby to the General ward. Goodness! The bed bells there are completely meaningless. It was taking my room-mate to go for sisters for assistance after ringing the bell after more that 5 times! Asking for the oxygen tubes to be fixed properly for 10 days baby from the so called sisters was asking for TOO MUCH.

Spent in the General ward for only one night but the bill read for 3 nights - something we realised later. The story is endless anyway not to even mention the lack of experience from the 'sister' who stitched me after the epsiotomy! Imagine lying in a delivery bed and  someone tells you "Sorry it's long since I did stitching..... I anyway had to go for an EPISIOTOMY REPAIR and no one even apologised for the negligence!

I have, through God's Grace managed to forgive everyone in that hospital but it would pain me if the same has, or will happen to someone else! @Nairobi Womens - Giving you my contacts won't help coz harm is already done, the info was for you to improve and not let anyone else suffer in your hands like the way I did.  I survived but baby later died. Imagine the day of discharge i was being asked to give them the name of the pedetrician who saw my baby?

7.      Over the years I have been touched by the hospital's kindness in rushing to the aid of abused children and women but the incident on Oc about 11th where the hospital is alleged to have refused to attend to an injured & sexually abused young woman-the late Mauryne , is quite disappointing. The hospital is even said to have refused to provide an ambulance to transfer her to Kenyatta Hospital. I hate to think that the apparent "rescue" of abused girls by the hospital is just a public relations gimmick and a front to attract financing eg from the Africa Health Fund so I cant wait to hear the hospital's side of the story.

In this whole situation am just a messenger. Am I happy to play this role? Well, happy is an understatement as am ECSTATIC! We want everybody to know about all these, even those without access to the internet. We would rather have 10 motivated doctors than 100 unscrupulous ones.

In the meantime, if you were a victim of this hospital or happen to know anyone who has suffered under their hands, do not hesitate to contact us at sadhi80@gmail.com or women4kenya@gmail.com.