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Aga Khan Hospital to pay mother Sh4.3m for failed birth control

A hospital has been ordered to fund the upbringing of a child who was conceived after a long-term contraceptive implant on her mother failed.

The High Court directed Aga Khan University Hospital family planning clinic to pay the woman (name withheld) Sh4.3 million to cater for the unplanned child.

Justice Hatari Waweru also ordered the hospital to pay the woman a further Sh500,000 for pain and loss of her comfort.

“This sum (Sh4.3 million), if wisely invested, should bring in an annual income that will go a long way in maintaining and educating the child without the necessity of delving into the principal sum,” Waweru ruled.

The court heard that the now mother of three visited the clinic for a long-term birth control as she did not want to have more children.

The woman said the reason she did not want a third child was because she and her husband were already struggling to bring up their two children.

She told the court that on July 4, 2011, the hospital advised her that implanon was the most appropriate contraceptive method for her.

Implanon is a flexible plastic rod about the size of a matchstick that contains a progestin hormone called etonogestre. It is inserted just under the skin of the inner side of the upper arm.

The court also heard after going through the medical procedure, she was assured that it would be safe to have sex with her husband without using any protection.

She was assured that the implant would secure her from pregnancy for at least three years.

But she soon had the shock of her life when she realised that her periods had failed. She did a home pregnancy test and confirmed that that she, indeed, was pregnant.

She rushed to the same hospital, which also confirmed she was pregnant. Other tests confirmed that the contraceptive had been implanted in her arm.

The woman blamed her pregnancy on the hospital staff’s negligence.

She told the court that news of the pregnancy was extremely devastating, traumatising and that she suffered mental distress.

She also testified that the unwanted pregnancy created a strain in her marriage because her husband thought she had lied about going for the birth control.

“There was thus much friction in the marriage for a long time,” she testified.

The pregnancy, she added, also interfered with her career aspirations as she had to defer her education.

The woman had asked for close to Sh7.6 million, arguing that she and her husband were spending close to Sh35,000 per month on each child. The judge, however, ruled that she had not provided enough evidence to support her claim.

“Doing the best that I can with the material before the court I will award Sh20,000 per month for 18 years. In arriving at this figure, I have taken into account that the cost of living will probably keep rising as the years go by.

“There will be a stiff rise in expenditure for the child when she finally gets to secondary school and hopefully to university and there may be medical bills to take care of as the child goes through her life’s journey,” the judge who termed the case unique and founded on medical negligence said.

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