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When Valentine Sunday walked into the maternity ward with mild labour pains, she took solace in the fact that she would be cuddling her new baby in a few hours.
After all, the 28-year-old mother of one was an “insider” and knew she would get the best service from her colleagues, having worked at the facility — Siaya County Referral Hospital — for the past three years.
But Ms Sunday, who gave birth to a girl through a Caesarean section, never made it out of theatre. She died on the operating table from excessive bleeding.
Shortly after news of her death was broken to the family, her father-in-law, Francis Odongo, 51, was found dead at home. Sunday’s husband, Leornard Odongo, said the two were good friends.
“My wife would spend time with my father whenever we were home and he was shocked to learn of her death,” he said.
“I called him to inform him of her death and he promised to come and view her body the next day but it is unfortunate that he died before doing so. He was found dead seated on a chair,” Mr Odongo added.
Demanding answers
Yesterday, family and friends were demanding answers from the hospital as they began plans for two burials, scheduled for Saturday.
Sunday’s death has thrust Siaya County Referral Hospital in the spotlight as her relatives claim hospital staff are not being transparent about the matter.
Odongo said they had not been told what could have caused his wife’s death.
Sunday’s colleagues told The Standard she had no complications and even reported to work just before she went for the surgery.
While the hospital insists the emergency team tried its best to save her life, the family claims the hospital kept the death “secret”.
Odongo told The Standard that his wife walked to the hospital after they booked her for surgery on March 28.
“I left the hospital at around 8pm before she was taken to theatre and she promised to call when she was done,” he said.
That was the last time he spoke to his wife.
“When I went back to check on her after receiving a call, I found her bed empty. I went to the theatre and found her lifeless body.”
Medical Superintendent Geoffrey Mwai regretted the death and said the hospital had set up a team to probe the matter.
“The team audited the circumstances that led to Sunday’s death on the same day and the finding was that she died as a result of excessive bleeding,” said Dr Mwai.
He said they also gave her a blood transfusion to try and resuscitate her.
Mwai denied reports that the hospital withheld information from the family, saying the family was aware of what transpired.
“The family is aware of what happened and I can confirm that the death was not caused by human error,” he said, adding that even though reports indicated that the person who conducted the surgery was a trainee, “he is qualified”.
According to County Director for Health Samuel Omondi, the hospital should not have allowed a trainee to perform such a delicate procedure.
“She had the ability to go to another hospital to seek the same service, but since she opted to have it at the facility where she works, it means she trusted the system,” said Dr Omondi.
Mwai said a postmortem report would reveal what happened.
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