Kenya’s biggest public referral hospital Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) is on the spot over claims of rape on breastfeeding mothers.
The claims came to the fore on Friday after raped mothers or those nearly raped called out the hospital’s management for the ordeal.
This happened as the mothers sauntered their way to the nurseries located on a different ward from the maternity to breastfeed their young one after every two hours.
A whistle blower, Mildred Owiso laid bare the dark happenings at the KNH in a facebook post.
“Security is a big issue especially for mothers whose kids are in the nursery. The nurseries are on the ground floor and the mothers on the third floor. Today met a lady who was nearly raped,” she wrote.
She added: “The lady had gone to breastfeed her baby at about 3am. Only thing that saved her the rape ordeal was her voice, Never mind this is someone who had her twins via cesarian and has barely healed. Such vulnerable mothers need protection.”
Another mother who hid her identity according to the Star confirmed that rape instances for breastfeeding mothers at KNH were real. The culprits, she said, are mortuary attendants.
“Rape in KNH hasn’t started today. Those mums with kids in the nursery go through a mess. They get raped by the mortuary attendants who collect bodies from wards,” she lamented.
Another lady corroborated that mortuary attendants are the real culprits and need to be punished.
“It’s very stressful especially when you are bleeding and having stitches down there and you can’t even run for your safety,” she recounted.
However, KNH communication officer Samuel Ithai dismissed the claims saying the hospital is safe for breastfeeding mothers.
“That is unfounded and we have not recorded such complaints. We have 24 hours security at the hospital including in the wards,” he said.
Inn defense of mortuary attendants, Ithai stated, “They don’t hover around at night, they have to be called to the ward. They don’t go looking for the bodies. It is an organised system. I don’t know why they have picked such allegations.”
Health CS Cleopa Mailu CS has directed the hospital’s management to provide adequate security for its patients.