A Nakuru hospital has allegedly detained a three-week-old baby with a heart condition over a Sh80,000 bill.
The baby, Godwin Mwenje who is at the Evans Sunrise Medical Centre has a large heart and needs to be moved to Kenyatta National Hospital for further treatment.
However, his mother, Gladys Wairimu, says she is unable to offset the bill as she is jobless and has three other children to support.
Godwin was born three weeks ago at the Nakuru Provincial General Hospital prematurely but was transferred to the medical centre for treatment as the health workers were on strike.
“He was born at eight months but the nurses and doctors at Nakuru PGH were on strike at the time. He inhaled foreign substances and I was all alone and weak after delivery hence I could not help myself,” Wairimu told journalists at the medical centre on Friday morning.
She said she took baby Godwin to the medical centre on August 20, and that is when the doctors discovered he has an overgrown heart.
However, the hospital claimed that it was looking for a hospital to refer the child to.
According to the Director of Clinical Services Dr Timothy Olweny, the hospital is ready to release the boy once the family agrees on where they would take the infant.
“We are awaiting for the family to decide which hospital they want the infant to be taken to,” said Olweny
However, social media activist James Wakibia claimed that the baby could not suckle and was feeding through pipes.
“The mother insists that they were told to transfer the child to KNH but they have to clear the bill first,” said Wakibia.