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Trainee nurse scalds newborn baby with hot water


A trainee nurse at the North Kinangop Catholic Hospital in Nyandarua County gave a rude welcome to a newborn baby in a hot shower gone awry moments after its birth.

The baby’s mother Peninah Nono claims the nurse, while cleaning the baby boy after birth, immersed the baby in very hot water.

As a result, the baby was burnt on his behind, his private areas and legs.

To add salt to injury, the nurse, after realising her mistake, went ahead to dress up the baby and took him back to his mother who was still asleep recovering from a caesarean section.

Peninah and her husband Joel Nono now want criminal proceedings to be opened against the nurse.

“Ile kitu ilinipea huzuni ni kuwa instead of kusaidia mtoto juu amemchoma, ni kumrudisha kwa kitanda.Mimi niliskia vibaya.Kwa sababu hata kama ni mimi ningefanya makosa, ningejaribu kurekebisha lakini sio kuharibu kabisa,” said a teary Ms Nono.

(What tormented me even more is the fact that instead of helping the baby after realizing he was burnt, the nurse went ahead to cover the burnt baby and put him back to bed. Even if I was the one who made the mistake, I could have tried to correct instead of making the situation worse.)

The hospital’s administrator Fr. Borsa Sandro has confirmed the incident, but declined to reveal the identity of the nurse.

“A student in training was washing the newborn child and probably did not check the water. She probably used water that was hotter than necessary and so the child got first degree burns,” he said.

He said he cannot reveal the identity of the student from the hospital’s nursing school, St. Lukes, saying he is responsible for his employees.

The couple is now calling on well-wishers to help them transfer the baby to Naivasha General Hospital because they no longer have confidence in the hospital.