Seven mothers detained at Nyamira County’s Masaba South Hospital over bills
Seven mothers detained at Nyamira County's Masaba South Hospital over bills
At least seven mothers, among them five students, are being detained over unpaid medical bills at Masaba South Level Five Hospital in Keroka, Nyamira County.
Some have spent more than two months at the facility as hospital management continues to pile pressure on them to settle their bills before they are discharged.
Among those held at the facility are two high school students and three other teenage mothers whose pregnancies have disrupted their plans to join university this month.
A young mother from Pokot is also among those detained.
The women narrated emotional accounts of hardship, saying they had struggled to raise the money demanded by the hospital after giving birth but in vain.
They spoke in confidence due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Many said they lacked the requisite documentation and resources to register for the Social Health Authority (SHA), leaving them exposed to mounting medical bills.
Those still in high school said their dreams of returning to school and building better lives were slowly slipping away as their families struggled to raise the money demanded by the hospital.
One student said she was now living with her biological father, who has a mental health condition, after life with her stepfather became unbearable.
She said relatives were taking care of her father while also desperately trying to raise the Sh30,000 needed to settle her hospital bill.
“My father is not well and he depends on relatives. Now those same relatives are the ones trying to help me pay my hospital bill. I don’t know where the money will come from,” she said.
The form three student at a school in Suneka said her circumstances had left her feeling helpless despite having worked hard to pursue her education.
“I went back to my biological father because life with my stepfather had become unbearable. I thought things would get better, but now I am here, detained because I cannot pay.”
Despite the circumstances she still hoped to return to school and continue her education after being released.
“Sometimes I ask myself what will happen to my education,” she said.
For another student from Bogeche in the neighbouring Masaba South,the detention has come at a particularly painful time as she prepares for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations.
She said being confined at the hospital had robbed her of valuable time that should have been spent revising for the national examinations.
She underwent a surgical operation during delivery.
“I am supposed to be preparing for my KCSE, but I am here thinking about a hospital bill. Every day I remain here is a day I lose from my books,” she said.
“I want to go home. I want to sit for my examination. I have dreams, but right now those dreams feel very far away because my family cannot afford the bill.”
The students said they understood that the hospital had expenses to meet but questioned how families with little or no income could raise thousands of shillings while dealing with the aftermath of childbirth.
One of the teenage mothers, who was scheduled to join university, said she had expected to be preparing for a new chapter in her life rather than spending her days behind hospital doors.
“I should be thinking about university, my course and my future. Instead, I wake up every morning wondering whether someone has brought money to clear my bill,” she said.
The mothers appeal to Nyamira County Government, under whose jurisdiction Masaba South Hospital falls, to intervene.
Nyamira County Executive Committee Member for Health Donald Mogoi on Monday promised to look into the matter.
He however urged the residents to enrol in the Social Health Authority scheme to reduce complaints over medical bills.
Mogoi, speaking on phone, said health insurance was critical in protecting families from the financial burden associated with medical treatment.
“Let our people learn the critical importance of a health insurance scheme and take it up. Seeking waivers is another way but it weakens the capacity of health institutions to maintain themselves,” he said.
