Seven mothers detained at Nyamira County’s Masaba North Hospital over bills

Seven mothers, including five students, have been held at Masaba South Level Five Hospital in Nyamira County due to unpaid medical bills. Some detainees have been held for over two months, with hospital staff urging them to pay before release. Among those held are two high school students and three teenage mothers whose pregnancies disrupted their university plans.

One young mother from Pokot is also detained. The women expressed emotional distress over their inability to pay the bills after giving birth, attributing their financial struggles to lack of documentation and resources to register for the Social Health Authority (SHA), which left them vulnerable to large medical bills. High school students lamented how their dreams of returning to school and building better lives were being jeopardized.

One student living with her mentally ill biological father, whose relatives are helping her pay the Sh30,000 bill, expressed feelings of helplessness. Despite their predicament, the students hope to continue their education after release. Another student, preparing for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams, said her detention deprived her of precious revision time.

The students acknowledged the hospital's expenses but questioned how poor families could pay thousands of shillings, especially after childbirth. They appealed to the Nyamira County Government to intervene, while the County Executive Committee Member for Health, Donald Mogoi, promised to investigate the matter and emphasized the importance of health insurance.