A hospital is a place to seek healing. When Damaris Makimei walked into one of the private hospitals in Kenya, she, like every other expectant woman, expected to walk out with a bundle of joy in her hands.
Instead, Makimei expectations dimmed after she was presented a bill that she would later have to settle in Ksh20,000 monthly for 58 years.
In a sit-down with The Standard, the distraught mother disclosed that on top of the bill, she lost her baby who had been born prematurely and spent seven months in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
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“I can’t get closure because now I am paying for something I don’t have,” remarked Makimei.
The complications started during the second month of pregnancy when she experienced intense bleeding leading to her blood pressure to skyrocket.
She got hospitalized soon after and had a cesarean section performed on her after a doctor advised her to terminate the pregnancy because her kidneys were shutting down.
The son, Jabali, was born and transferred to the ICU, developed into a bouncy baby but later died due to premature complications. He weighed only 720 grams at birth.
“He could smile, cry and grew from 720 grams to 5.4 kilograms. He was such a big boy. He was weaning, he could sit,” she added.
When Jabali was born, she notes that he was extremely undeveloped with effects in the brain, intestines among others.
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As Makimei spent time in the hospital, she realized that her bill was increasing fast yet her baby was not getting any better.
“I realized my bill was getting out of hand but many hospitals were not willing to take him in because he was in ICU,” she stated.
When the baby died, the bill was standing at a staggering Ksh19 million including Ksh40,000 per night bed charges and life support fees among others.
At the time, the hospital also demanded some form of security to ensure that Makimei would settle the bill and so opted to hold onto the body.
After paying Ksh2 million and having National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) settle Ksh700,000, Makimei reached an agreement with the hospital where she will be paying Ksh20,000 per month until the bill is cleared.
