- According to the women Kiambu District Hospital offers quality services at affordable prices
- The facility has not received any complaints on safety of expectant mothers
Hundreds of pregnant women in Nairobi prefer giving birth at the Kiambu District Hospital maternity wing, The Nairobian can reveal.
The hospital, they claim, offers quality services at an affordable prices and is better than those in the capital ten-fold.
The hospital maternity wing is a beehive of activity. Men can be seen trudging along the corridors towards the maternity wing with their heavily pregnant wives in town as new-born babies cry to announce their arrival. Unknown to many, most of the mothers are from the city.
The hospital has been radically transformed. Tales of patients sharing beds is a thing of the past.
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Judith Atieno, an expectant mother from Dandora in Nairobi, narrates to The Nairobian why she chose to come all the way to Kiambu even though Kenyatta National Hospital is just a few kilometres from her house.
“I find this facility much safer than other hospitals; security has been prioritised and the congestion that tends to breed thieves is visibly absent, so one can walk freely on the corridors without fear. We are also taken good care of by the nurses and doctors. They are kind to us.
The services are far much better and I haven’t experienced any hiccups or had my complaints being ignored. All you have to do is make a request and you will be. I have been to other hospitals before and there is a big difference in terms of service delivery and cleanliness. There is no sharing of beds here or cases of rape. We are just comfortably waiting to go to the delivery room,” said Atieno.
“The doctors have told me that I will deliver on February 15, and I’m quite excited because it will be a Valentines gift to my husband. I’m hoping that I will have a safe delivery, and it will be a baby girl,” the 26-year-old Atieno added.
Christine Nkatha, a mother of three and who gave birth the day before to a bouncing baby boy loves the feeding programme Kiambu District Hospital and says it is tops in spite of the facility being a public facility.
“This is my third child, though I lost my second one sometime back. I gave birth yesterday and all went well. I have had all my kids here and the uji is super excellent, I don’t know how they prepare it, but it tastes really sweet. Security is also beefed up, we are always escorted to the nurseries to breastfeed our babies by the guards and security lights are always on,” said Nkatha who hails from Githurai.
A majority of patients agree that health care at the facility has greatly improved compared to recent years when the hospital was put on the spot light for poor infrastructure and lack of medicines.
“Things have improved because in the previous years taking an expectant mother to Kiambu was a grievous mistake. The patients were left on their own, food was bad and sometimes nurses would be rude to the expectant mothers. But with the current leadership things are good and we hope these good deeds will continue. When you see people from other counties seeking services in Kiambu know that all is well”, said a patient.
According to Kiambu District Hospital Medical Superintendent, Jessy Ndichu, the facility has not received any complaints on safety of expectant mothers who have been admitted at the maternity unit.
“We work closely with the OCPD to make sure that we don’t experience a scenario where a patient is robbed or raped. Police officers have been deployed to man the place 24 hours and this has always made the patients feel safe.
“Guards have also boosted our security because they are always on the corridors and ward entrances to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Every two or three hours mothers go to the nurseries to breast feed as prescribed and guards are always on standby at the gate, corridors and walkways. We receive patients mainly from Nairobi, Machakos, Murang’a and Nakuru because we offer a package to our patients,” said Ndichu.
“We receive an average of 60 patients per day, so there is so much overflow because our occupants are so high. In a month we conduct over 2,000 deliveries and the mothers are discharged after one or two days.
But for those who have undergone caesarean section, they might need three to five days here. The maternity fee is free and the patient information is computerized. We have 74 beds,” Margaret Waweru, the officer in charge of health records and information told The Nairobian.
