16-year-old girl delivers triplets, five other get twins

Nursing officer in charge of New Born Unit at Homa Bay County Referral. (James Omoro, Standard)

A 16-year-old girl delivered triplets at Homa Bay County Referral ahead of Christmas Day.

The girl, a Form Tow drop out, delivered three boys. However, one of them died. 

Yesterday, she appealed to well-wishers to intervene and help her return to school next year. The girl said she dropped out of school this year over lack of school fees. 

“My parents are not well off financially. I appeal to well-wishers to help me so that I can resume my education,” said the girl who hails from Central Kasipul Ward in Kasipul Constituency.

In the same hospital, five other mothers delivered twins in the hospital.

Among them is another 16-year-old girl who delivered male twins. She also appealed for support to continue with her education. 

The girl who hails from Kibiri ward in Karachuonyo Constituency said she is worried about how she is going to join senior school. 

She expressed concerns that her parents are challenged by poverty, yet another burden of raising her twins had also cropped up. 

“I am supposed to join junior school, but this may not be possible due to this new burden of raising these babies,” the girl said. 

The girls are among the 289 mothers who have delivered in the hospital during this festive season. 

The hospital nursing officer in charge of the newborn unit in the hospital, Linda Tindi, said almost half of the mothers are teenagers. 

“Almost half of the 289 mothers who delivered in this hospital between December 1 and today are teenagers,” Tindi said. 

She said the teen mothers need assistance for their babies to survive.

“Most of these are teen mothers who don’t have sources of livelihoods,” Tindi said. 

She said 90 per cent of the children who were born survived. This shows that they had enhanced the response against newborn mortality in the hospital. 

“Almost 90 per cent of the babies born here survived. This is attributed to the training our staff have undergone to sharpen their skills in delivery,” Tindi said. 

She added that the medical staff had been enrolled in advanced training to handle cases such as birth asphyxia, or perinatal asphyxia – a condition where a newborn baby does not get enough oxygen and blood flow before, during, or just after birth, leading to potential brain damage. 

The medic said new mothers are also taught about kangaroo care and infection prevention and control.