Awarded Ksh 2.5M for Being Forced to Give Birth on Hospital Floor
Awarded Ksh 2.5M for Being Forced to Give Birth on Hospital Floor
On Wednesday, February 28, a Kisumu County local hospital was ordered to reimburse a woman Ksh2.5 million for what she claimed were rights violations during childbirth.
Judge Joel Ngugi stated in the Kisumu Court ruling that the prosecution had shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the woman had suffered severe injuries at the hands of the hospital’s staff.
During the court proceedings, the aggrieved lady claimed that she was admitted to the public health facility in preparation for childbirth.
At the time of admission, she had exceeded her due date of delivery. She noted that the facility was obligated to offer her free maternity healthcare services as per the government’s policy.
Upon examination, the doctor at the said facility preferred that the lady should undergo induced labour.
Due to the limited number of beds, the lady alleged that she was forced to share a bed with another patient.
Moreover, the woman claimed that she was forced to give birth on the hospital floor along the corridor. She also claimed that the nurses failed to physically check and monitor her progress after inducing her to the point that even when she sought help no one attended to her.
“(The patient’s name withheld) testified that she regained consciousness to shouts, verbal insults and physical assault from two nurses who were displeased that she had given birth on the floor,” read part of the court document.
“The two nurses, she testified, ordered her to carry her placenta and walk to the delivery room to have it expelled. At this time, Josephine was in a state of confusion and half-consciousness so much that her mind did not fully register in her memory the mistreatment she went through.”
To back her claims, phone recordings were produced in court which showed how the woman was mistreated.
The hospital agreed that they had financial limitations in a rebuttal document, but they refuted claims of abuse.
According to the hospital, the Nursing Council of Kenya conducted an investigation and found that the nurses involved were innocent of all charges.
In an attempt to cast the woman’s accusations of assault in a negative light, the hospital further claimed that she was released from treatment without filing a complaint.
In an attempt to refute the tapes even more, the hospital claimed that the woman had attested to having adequate care prior to her release.
After examining the facts, Justice Joel Ngugi concluded that the woman had a right to compensation because the hospital had infringed her rights.
Judge Ngugi declared, “That within the next 15 days of this date, a formal apology be made to the patient by the hospital and the three nurses herein named as having violated her rights.”
