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Baringo hospital seeking to dispose 43 bodies including those of 33 newborns

By Wangu Kanuri September 3rd, 2022 1 min read

The Baringo County Referral Hospital is seeking a court order to dispose of 43 bodies, including those of 33 newborns who died shortly after birth.

The bodies, which had been lying in the hospital’s mortuary for more than three months, have congested the mortuary with the hospital now seeking a court order compelling the affected families to collect the bodies of their loved ones within one week.

Dr Garishom Abakalwa, the Medical Superintendent at the hospital, said some bodies of the newborns which collected from the maternity, had been at the mortuary for more than two years.

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The high body count of newborn babies has been attributed to women who run away from the hospital once they know their babies are dead.

A big percentage of these women believe interacting with the dead infants will cast a spell of hardship on them and their families.

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Baringo County Governor Benjamin Cheboi, while saying there was a legal way to dispose bodies, urged county residents to shun outdated cultural practices.

“We have to change our cultures. Some of our people have beliefs which forbid them from touching the bodies of dead infants,” Mr Cheboi said.

Last year, in a span of roughly one week seven, infants died in an incubator at the hospital raising questions whether it was a case of negligence from the medics.

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