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Details of what patients go through in the hands of medical personnel in public hospitals were laid bare yesterday before a parliamentary committee probing the state of health care in the country.

Maureen Anyango lost her life after giving birth to twins at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Nairobi in September, in what her husband and relatives say was a case of negligence.

Robert Omondi, Anyango’s widower, told the Senate Health Committee how he helplessly watched as his wife suffered.

It all started at Kayole DO Clinic where Anyango was taken when she went into labour at 7pm on September 6.

Omondi told the committee that after her admission, tests revealed she had high blood pressure and medics at the clinic told them to wait until it stabilised. The situation did not, however, change.

He said the patient was later referred to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.

At Mama Lucy, the pressure was still high and a nurse told them to wait for 20 minutes.

“I had to force my way in because all the nurses and the medical personnel did not want me to check on the condition of my wife. I was later told to leave, which I did,” he told the committee chaired by Jackson Mandago.

The following day at 6.45am, Omondi left for the hospital and found his wife was about to be taken to the theatre for Caesarean section.

“I was told the delivery process would not take long and I should relax. I went back home,” he said.

According to the widower, at about 8am, a doctor he only identified as Dr Kipsang called him to deliver the news that his wife had delivered two baby boys weighing 3.8 and 3.9 kgs respectively.

“I left the house to see my bundles of joy. I found the twins sleeping on the same tiny bed with their mother who was on a drip. She told me to help her with the babies,” he said.

Fix drip

He went on: “I realised that she was bleeding and the drip had no medicine flowing and there was backflow of blood. I notified the nurse about the bleeding and backflow but she didn’t take any action,” a tearful Omondi told the committee.

According to him, the nurse – on a third reminder – told him to fix drip himself.

“I had no choice but remove the drip. More blood flowed so I took cotton wool and tried to stop the flow but all the wools were drenched in blood. I did not know what to do,” he said.

At about 12.45pm, Anyango’s elder sister, Rose Otieno, joined him in pleading with the medics to attend to the patient but there was no response.

Much later, he recalled, a group of doctors came and told them to leave the room to allow them to attend to the patient.

“After 10 minutes, she was taken back to the theatre,” he said.

At about 4pm, he recalled, he was told the condition of his wife had worsened and that she needed three pints of blood since she had lost a lot of blood.

“I was promised that by 8pm she would be stable and would be taken back to the general ward,” he said.

At about 7pm, the doctors told him that the patient’s condition had worsened and she had been put on oxygen. She also needed to be referred to another hospital.

Machakos Level 5 Hospital and Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital were two facilities on the table but he had to produce Sh200,000 as deposit to gain admission, an amount that he didn’t have.

“I called friends and family but none of them could help. After a few minutes, a nurse told me they could look for a third option,” he said.

After consultation, Kiambu Level 5 Hospital agreed to admit the patient without a deposit.

Omondi told the committee that although they were to leave at 8pm they left Mama Lucy at about midnight because an ambulance was not immediately available.

“The ambulance had apparently taken another emergency case to KNH,” Omondi recounted.

He said they arrived at the hospital 1am.

Omondi said his wife told him to buy baby powder milk for the children.

“Buy nan for the children,” she told him.

He said those were the last words she heard from her. Anyango died the following day 7am at Kiambu Level 5 Hospital.

“Maureen was not supposed to die. She should have been saved as she was in good health,” said Otieno, Anyango’s elder sister, who had remained with the twins at Mama Lucy.

Omondi’s lawyer, Bonaventure Otieno, said Mama Lucy Hospital should be shut down.

“We lost a woman who should not have died. We are now left with two children who did not even have a chance to see their mother,” said Otieno.