Mother dies in hospital corridors

Janet Aloyo’s relatives lay a wreath on her casket at their home in Gulu District last week.

In Summary

Neglected. The expectant mother, who had been asked to take a walk around the hospital, lost her baby and later died from excessive bleeding after a midwife delayed to come to her attention.

Gulu

When 21-year-old Janet Aloyo visited Gulu Regional Referral Hospital on Wednesday, her relatives were excited – a new one would be born to their family.

The story, however, would not end so, as both mother and daughter died shortly. According to Ms Prisca Acayo, a relative, their journey to the hospital started on Friday when she accompanied her sister to the hospital. “The excitement of receiving a new born baby was the only thing at the back of our minds,” she says.

Ms Acayo says four days at the facility, the midwife told them that the baby was still 4cm in the womb, and requested that the mother moves around the hospital premises.
“We obeyed the order, but 10 minutes later, intensive labour pains started. I rushed to call the midwife thrice in vain,” she says.

It was then that she called an unidentified woman to help her but it was too late.
The baby was out, lying on the floor while the mother was down, bleeding profusely. Alayo had delivered her baby in the corridor. “We carried both of them to the labour ward with the umbilical cord still attached to the mother.”

When the midwife finally arrived, she tried to remove something from the baby’s nose before asking if the baby had cried out when it came out? “No,” Ms Acayo said, prompting the midwife to declare the baby dead. She then immediately hurried to attend to the mother, who was still bleeding.

Outright neglect?
Ms Acayo said the midwife requested her to give her sister tea but when she returned, her sister was pronounced dead. “We were not helped. The midwife took her time and when she came, it was too late. That’s how my sister and the new born baby died.”

Aloyo’s husband, Mr Wellborn Oweka, 27, says their last conversation was at 10pm on phone as he drove back from Kampala before the fateful day. “I had taken her to the hospital early enough to avoid an eventuality, I was, however, shocked when I was called and told my wife had given birth in the hospital corridor, with no one to help her,” he says. He adds that he was confident that his wife was in a government hospital, but was shocked to see her die mysteriously.

“This is an individual’s problem and she should be dealt with in court.”
Dr Francis Pebalo, a general practitioner in the ward, confirmed the death, adding that a preliminary death audit indicates that it was a still birth caused by heavy bleeding.
Dr Pebalo regretted the incident, saying it was the first case this year, since more than 25 babies are born at the facility each day.

The Gulu Resident District Commissioner, Mr Nabison Kidega, appealed to the government to recruit more health workers and have at least two male doctors in the labour ward to counter check adherence to ethical standards. “Women undergoing labour pains are usually insulted by midwives, which at times results into loss of lives,” Mr Kidega says.

Mr Jimmy Patrick Okema, the regional police spokesperson, said investigations were underway and two people have so far recorded their statements. “We are still waiting for the full death audit report from the hospital administration,” Mr Okema says.