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Several young mothers detained days after giving birth inside the Makueni Mother and Child Hospital Unit on Wednesday revealed the difficult conditions they are facing while confined to hospital beds.
The mothers revealed the difficulties they went through before accessing maternity services at the county top facility, only for them and their newborns to be detained after they failed to raise money to clear the medical bills.
Among them is a Form Four student in a local school within Kitonyoni in Kathonzweni.
The 17-year-old girl said she started experiencing labour pains at home and when she was rushed to a nearby health centre they found it was closed and forced the family to take her to a private hospital under emergency care within Wote township.
“I developed medical complications that needed a quick intervention. I was taken to a private hospital where I gave birth,” she said
The baby was born with complications, something that forced Mutheu’s mother, Sabina Kangwiria, to seek space at Makueni Mother and Child Hospital.
“We took Mutheu for delivery on August 16, where she delivered successfully and we paid Sh12,000 at the private hospital. However, on August 17, 2026, the baby and the mother developed complications something which forced a referral to the Makueni Mother and Child Hospital for further treatment,” Sabina Kangwiria, the student’s mother, told The Standard.
The baby was admitted at the Newborn Unit (NBU) while the mother was kept in the general ward. Both were discharged on September 4, but they are still detained for lack of money to clear the Sh31,700 bill.
The distressed grandmother is now appealing for help, saying the family cannot afford the bill and fears for the welfare of her daughter and grandchild.
“I sleep outside the hospital under trees at night and sometimes sneak into her bedside at night. If I have no money to pay for a guest house, where will I get money to clear this bill? My daughter is even a candidate waiting to write her KCSE exam this year. She has suffered a double blow, both being impregnated while a minor and now detained in hospital as others read for exams,” Kangwiria decried.
The student is not alone here. Her pain is shared by another 19-year-old, from Mutanda village, Kalawa, Mbooni. She gave birth to a baby girl last week but she has been unable to leave the hospital bed. She is under 24-hour security.
“We came to Makueni Mother and Child Hospital last week on Wednesday. We had visited Kalawa Level 3 Hospital where we found no medics to attend to her,” the teenager’s mother said.
She was discharged last week on Friday, but she is still held inside the wards.
“The strike has disrupted services here. We struggled a lot to access essential post-delivery care and other support. Now after all those struggles we are forced to stay inside the facility due to lack of funds,” the woman added
The mother needs Sh14,850 to clear her bill, which is still counting as days go by.
These two cases once again raise concerns over the plight of poor families who struggle to settle medical bills after giving birth, while opening a lid on a possible wider number of patients held across the few sub-county hospitals operating at a snail's pace.
Makueni Chief Health Officer, Dr Harvey Mbithi said he was unaware of such cases, promising to follow up on the matter.
“Such cases involving school girls are handled between the hospitals and the school administration. A matron was supposed to be involved from that particular school, then handle that case quickly and let the teenager be released. We will dig into these cases,” Dr. Mbithi told The Standard on the phone.
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