KNUNM Deputy Secretary General Maurice Opeto, Chairperson Ngwasi John and Treasurer Maureen Nzioka address a press briefing in Nairobi. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]
When Jecinter Muthoni began preparing for the birth of her baby, she already knew where she wanted to deliver.
The 27-year-old businesswoman, who sells plastics and lives in Baba Dogo, had planned to deliver at Mama Margaret Kenyatta Hospital, the nearest public facility to her home. She had saved what she could, expecting the money to be enough for delivery in a public hospital.
But two weeks before her due date, the nurses' strike began, turning the public hospital she had planned to rely on into a source of uncertainty.
“I had been planning and had even decided that I would deliver at Mama Margaret Kenyatta but when I heard about the strike, I developed fear because I knew it would interfere with services, which it did,” Muthoni said.
With the public hospital no longer a reliable option, she began looking for an affordable private facility. She visited three hospitals to compare prices before settling on one she believed she could manage, with the hope that family and friends would help if the bill became too much.
She went in expecting a normal delivery but was instead rushed into theatre for an emergency Caesarean section.