Baby born with deformity cries to death after mother refused to feed it
The baby girl who was born with no eyes and deformed nostrils has died.
According to the family, the baby cried for hours due to hunger and later succumbed at night.
The mother, 22 year-old Ms Mariam Mwakombo, refused to breastfeed the newborn due to its condition.
“The child had not eaten anything since it was born early Sunday morning. We buried it outside our home to ward off bad omen associated with such kind of a child according to our traditions,” said the uncle Hassan Dzaya.
AFRAID OF BABY
The mother said she was afraid of her baby girl who had no eyes and deformed nostrils.
“She frightened me. I have never seen such a human being,” she told the Nation.
The child was born on Sunday morning and lived for 10 hours without breast milk. She was born prematurely at seven months. Her mother had only attended two antenatal care at a public hospital in Kilifi.
“Hospitals are very far and I couldn’t afford the clinic at private hospitals. I used traditional methods,” she said.
RARE CONDITION
Doctors suspect the child was born with a condition known as anophthalmia. It is a condition in which one or both eyes do not form during pregnancy.
Villagers including religious leaders trickled to homestead to glare at the baby whose condition caused shame and anguish to the family.
She gave birth to the girl at home after she being turned away in public hospitals in Mombasa and Kilifi counties due to the ongoing nurses’ strike that has paralysed health services.
WATER BROKE
“My water broke while I was doing my chores and she just came out. She’s seven months old. I never felt any pains during her birth. But on looking at her we realised she did not have eyes,” said the mother.
They rushed her to Port Reitz district hospital after delivery but they were referred to the largest hospital in the region, Coast Provincial General Hospital (CPGH) due to nurse’s strike that has paralysed health services in public hospitals.
