Woman abandons baby boy in hospital 2 hours after delivering

Police and health authorities are looking for a woman who allegedly abandoned her baby boy two hours after she successively delivered at the Moi County Referral Hospital, Voi.

Health authorities yesterday said the woman identified as Rose Auma arrived at the facility on Friday last week with severe labour pains and was immediately rushed to the delivery ward where she gave birth to a 2.2kg baby.

The hospital authorities said the nurses later left the mother at the maternity wing to attend to other patients, only for the woman to flee.

"The woman left the baby on the bed and went out where she posed as one of the visitors at the patient's bay. She sneaked out of the hospital and abandoned her baby in the hospital bed," said one of the nurses who attended to her.

In an interview, the hospital's administrator Richard Nguti said they reported the matter to the police for action.

field trip

"The suspect is said to be a student of a college in Thika and was on a school field trip to Mombasa when she gave birth in the region," said the official, adding that she had provided them with a non-existent mobile phone number.

Mr Nguti said they suspect the woman gave them a lot of conflicting information about herself.

"We have tried to get her but in vain. We are not even sure that what she told us was her actual real name. We could not even imagine that the woman had the intention of abandoning her bouncing baby. She secretly sneaked out of the hospital less than two hours after delivery," he observed.

Nguti said there is a possibility that the woman was passing through the town when she developed labour pains.

Some 83 children were neglected by their parents between July and September this year in Taita Sub County alone, Children's department officials said.