Health

Women Against Women in the Delivery Rooms?

Written by Nyachae Brian on March 8, 2024

Promoting maternal health is one of the millennium development goals that were set in 2000 and projected to have been achieved by the year 2015. Nine years later, reports of expectant women losing lives during delivery are still high

The following are real experiences narrated by various men and women in regard to expectancy, during a live evening drive show dubbed “Oyera” at Radio Vuna 102.0 FM on 29^th February, 2024. The show is hosted by the author of this article

Rigegu from Nyanchwa

My wife went to this hospital to deliver and they didn’t remove her the placenta. She was badly stitched. After few weeks, she developed complications, oozing out pus forcing me to take her back. Another doctor attended her who redressed the wound following a 3 day admission in the hospital

Olpha from Nyakoe

Expectant mothers immensely suffer in the hands of female nurses. 99 % of these nurses (women) are extremely rude and insensitive. If you however bribe them, they will attend you well.

A caller from Kegochi

My wife complained of abdominal pains and I rushed her to a nearby medical facility. The doctors after examining her said she had a foreign object in the stomach, but ruled out being pregnant. They scheduled her for an operation awaiting payment

The next day I decided to seek a second opinion from a referral facility. I insisted they allow me transfer her, a request they grudgingly obliged. In the referral hospital, she was scanned and confirmed pregnant. Months later she delivered. I wonder what could have happened if I accepted the other facility to operate her!

Evelyn

I remember waiting in one hospital in Nairobi from 8AM to 6PM and still got no assistance. Currently an expectant mother has to fight for herself to get help

I was rushed to one hospital to deliver my third born child. I pleaded for help, with no nurse showing up, I ended delivering on my own. The nurses on duty were enclosed in some room. My child almost fell down was it not for one woman who responded to my distress call.

Luckily one nurse, a man, who was not on duty and happened to know me in person, rushed and assisted me

When I went to deliver my second child, women nurses attended me. They left cotton in my womb. Next day after discharge, my legs had swollen, the stomach heavy and the whole body numb. Luckily when I went to pee, the bloody cotton pushed out. Those women could have killed me. I also advise men to accompany their wives when they go to hospital to deliver

Nancy

I remember going to a hospital while pregnant. Two times a female nurse chased me away only to be brought back by her male colleague who now forcefully attended me. Days later I was operated and unfortunately the fetus died. I never want a woman to attend me when pregnant or delivering!

Evans from Keroka

I wonder why women go training to be medical practitioners! Recently a wife to a friend of mine went to hospital to deliver her fourth child, whom they hopefully expected to be a boy, after the first three being girls.

She was put on caesarian delivery for the first time, unfortunately the result was a still birth, and the baby was a boy they had anticipated for long. The news led her to a comma

Women nurses are very insensitive to expectant mothers. They should be banned from the delivery room!

Abel

From the current experiences, I find our traditional way where women gave birth at home to be better. There were so few reports of stillbirths. In hospitals our women give birth to living babies only to be exchanged for dead ones.

Majority of caesarian deliveries that lead to death of the mother are as a result of medical students who are allowed to experiment on people’s lives

Anna

Men should be allowed to accompany women to the labor wards. I worked for many years in hospital, and we were under instructions never to offend a patient. My daughter is a doctor, and want her to serve patients well. Women we despise each other.

In the maternity wings you will hear female nurses hailing abuses to expectant mothers that they had not send them to be pregnant

I remember an incident where one doctor operated a woman who for long had hoped to give birth to a boy. The expectant mother delivered a male child but unfortunately died during the operation.

The doctor just left without informing the waiting family, who several hours later after demanding to know the whereabouts of their patient were given the sad news by a different doctor.

William

My wife says she is comfortable with a male birth attendant than women

Mary

Due to high blood pressure, I had been informed to tag along my husband to accompany me on the delivery day to sign the consent form since I had to deliver through operation. On the material day, my husband did not accompany me, however arriving at the hospital hours later I gave birth naturally

The nurse on duty however kept abusing me during the labor pains that we were burdening them with never ending deliveries. It’s not that I had given birth to so many babies; that was just by third born!

On another occasion, I went to be attended at a private facility where they gave me some medication that resulted to the death of the fetus. I explained to the doctors days later that I felt the baby was dead, they however insisted that the infant is alive. I was discharged but my body kept swelling, I would feel the dead child move wholly any time I turned

I went back to another hospital where a scan confirmed the fetus was dead. I was scheduled for theatre the next day, however a different doctor later attended me and after administering some medicine, I delivered the dead child naturally.