Newborn dies after falling off hospital bed

Barely a month after a pregnant woman fell off a bed at Kirehe District Hospital and died, another alleged neglect case involving medics occurred last week, resulting into the death of a two-day old baby. According to Immaculate Muteteri, the bereaved mother, on July 10, she arrived at the hospital and gave birth on the same day, and the baby was placed in a cot within the ward where she (Muteteri) was being stitched.Muteteri told The New Times yesterday that the baby had been left on its cot for over an hour and the cot’s side rails were not locked on one side, while the only nurse who was attending to her was “busy on a computer.”She said that the baby slipped off the cot and fell, head first, which prompted her to make an alarm.“When the medics came in, they said that my baby would be fine since it wasn’t anything serious but a swollen head,” said the mother adding that constant request for a thorough screening up of the baby before she left hospital, were futile.One of the medics at the hospital told the mother that since the baby was breastfeeding, recovery from the swell would be swift, she says.The following day, they were discharged with doctors telling her all was well “despite concerns I had raised with them concerning blood spots I had seen on my baby’s forehead.”Worsening condition “The day after we were discharged, the condition worsened and we rushed him back to hospital and he died early the following morning.” The baby lived for two days. “My child wouldn’t have died if the nurses hadn’t been careless. They went out of the room leaving the baby’s bedsides down and unlocked. They left for over an hour claiming to be looking for a wheel chair. Even after the baby’s head had got swollen, they didn’t offer him any immediate medical help but only kept saying that he was fine and they even discharged us the following day,” she said.Muteteri did not receive any help from the hospital but she claims to have received a phone call from the Mayor of the District, Protais Murayire, who wanted to find out what exactly happened and promised to call her back.Repeated calls to Dr Jean Nepo Uwiringiyemungu, the hospital’s director could not be answered by yesterday.However, Dr Theophile Dushime, the Director of Clinical Services in Ministry of Health said that investigations are underway and the Ministry will follow up on the case.“We have the Medical Council and Administration carrying out investigations regarding this case. The findings of the investigations will guide our next move,” he said.Jack Rwemera, father of the deceased, says the hospital director has remained elusive since the incident.“I have tried to get in touch with the hospital director to discuss this case and prevent other such incidents to no avail. The Community Health Worker who is helping us says that every time she calls him, he claims to be in a meeting or not at the hospital,” he adds.

National

Newborn dies after falling off hospital bed