A woman in Nyanza has opted to sue the district hospital after a stillbirth, citing negligence by medical personnel.

Evelyne Nyirahabimana said when she went into labour, health workers at Kibirizi Health Centre in Nyanza District referred her to Nyanza Hospital.

The woman and her mother were given an ambulance for transportation to the referral hospital.

However, the family claims neglect by the health workers resulted into the 26-year-old woman narrowly surviving death but not her baby.

That was on October 12, last year.

The mother, from Kibirizi Sector, Nyanza District, is convinced that had she reached hospital in time and received enough care, her baby would have been saved.

Nyirahabimana said she went through the worst experience on the way from Kibirizi Health Centre to Nyanza Hospital.

"Everything was fine with the pregnancy until the last minute. I was given an ambulance but along the way the driver stopped and went to his residence with the nurse who was in the vehicle. They spent about 40 minutes before returning. My mother’s plea for immediate action fell on deaf ears,” Nyirahabimana said.

Her mother wondered why they had not rather left her daughter at the health centre.

Nyirahabimana’s mother, Levocata Karwera, accuses the driver of being too rude to them.

"Old woman, what is your problem? What are you murmuring about yet you are not a doctor,” she quotes the driver as having retorted following her pleas.

Nyirahabimana said they later resumed the journey to Nyanza Hospital but still there was negligence upon their arrival there.

There were two nurses supposed to look after her who she accuses of being rude and neglecting her.

"The medics were telling me, ‘woman, push or you go away with a box,’” she said. "After two hours of excruciating labour pains, a doctor appeared. I was feeling a lot of pain, the whole body was swollen; I was about to die.”

Nyirahabimana said the doctor asked her whether she was in labour.

"I told him that I was not in labour, but that my entire body was painful. He examined me and seemed to have noticed an anomally and told the medics to immediately book me in for an operation. After the operation, the medics told me I had given birth to a stillborn because my uterus had ruptured,” she recounted.

Raising complaints

Nyirahabimana said she contacted the hospital’s human resource manager, who suspended the medics for a month and was advised to file a case with police.

"I reported the matter to Police but my intention is to file a lawsuit. I had a stillbirth because of carelessness of medics. I want to sue them for damages,” Nyirahabimana said.

Emmanuel Ndangamira, 26, Nyirahabimana’s husband, said the Ministry of Health told them that it was going to investigate the matter but had to go through Police.

"We have been going to Police but have not yet got a reply. We are constrained but we will do our best to get justice,” Ndangamira said.

Last Thursday, a delegation from the Ombudsman’s office advised Nyirahabimana to return to Police to get a report.

Simon Peter Mukama, the regional Police commander for Southern Province, said Police in Nyanza was still compiling a comprehensive report about the issue, adding that it would be expedited to help the mother get justice.

"Last Friday, she came to my office and explained the issue to me, how she was transferred to Nyanza Hospital to give birth but was not given enough care. We have urged police in Nyanza District to expedite a comprehensive report, including the driver and the nurse who was with him as well as the two nurses who were on duty at the hospital. The report has to be ready soon to be forwarded to the prosecution,” he said.

Mukama said the family can sue the entire hospital for compensation in civil suit, but Police will likely prefer criminal charges against the implicated medics.

Dr Léon Hakizimana Kagabo, the director of Nyanza Hospital, said after learning about the case, a team comprising of Ministry of Health officials was set up to investigate the case.

"Since the case occurred, the woman did not accept what happened to her and her baby, that’s why investigations were launched,” he said, adding the case is still under investigation.

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