A newborn baby sustained burns inside an incubator at Queens and Kings Hospital in Siakago, Mbeere, Embu County.
The family of the one-day-old baby said the infant severe burns on the arm, chest and head.
The baby’s father, Dennis Murimi, said he found out the baby had burned when he went to the facility to check on his wife Regina Wambura, 20, who was recuperating after delivery.
“The baby was left at an incubator for a long period unattended leading to the burns,” Murimi said, accusing the facility of negligence.
The baby has since been transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi for specialised treatment.
The baby’s aunt, Rukia Wanjiru, said the hospital had accepted liability and promised to cater for all the medical expenses and treatment.
“We are happy with the management’s decision to deal with the medical costs but the baby’s mother is deeply traumatised,” said Rukia.
She said the baby was in deep pain and that’s why they demanded the transfer to Nairobi.
Moses Njue, the hospital administrator, said they were investigating the matter and would take disciplinary action against any personnel found culpable.
“Our quality control team is investigating the matter to find out if there was personnel negligence or the machine failed,” Njue said.
He confirmed that the hospital will take care of the medical expenses and apologised to the family. Njue also assured them the hospital was keen to establish the cause of the accident.
