BARAKA TELE: Woman In Shock After Delivering Quadruplets In Murang'a

There was shock at Kariti village in Kandara sub county, Murang’a county after a woman delivered quadruplets.

In the never again seen incidence in the area, Lucy Wangari, 35 years old, was in complete shock saying she did not expect to get four babies.

Wangari said that she has one more child and that she had not planned to have such a big family.

She said both her and her husband Simon Murigi are casual laborers and did not have the capability to raise a family of five.

Wangari also noted that she could not afford to buy formula milk to feed her four infants yet she is not capable of breast feeding them for six months as is required.

Wangari however lauded the government for the free maternity services dubbed ‘Linda Mama Initiative’ saying she would otherwise have not afforded to pay for the cesarean section procedure that she underwent.

“I don’t know what we would have done. My husband and I are only able to make enough to feed ourselves and our child,” she said.

She is still admitted at Gaichanjiru Mission Hospital where her children who were born premature have been put in the nursery. Scores of villagers flocked the hospital to see the children.

Murigi on his part said he could not believe his eyes when doctors performed a scan on his wife, revealing that she was carrying four babies a few months ago.

“This came as a shock to me because we do not even have twins in both families,” Murigi who was visibly still in shock said.

Murigi appealed for aid from well wishers saying he is financially incapable of supporting the now bloated family with his meager earnings.

The couple however got a reprieve after Ahadi Kenya CEO Stanley Kamau pledged to support their family for a year.

Kamau who visited the couple in the hospital on Sunday said children are a blessing from God, saying he will also provide the couple with a nanny to help in nursing the children.

“I will also see what income generating project to start for the couple so that even when the children reach school going age, they will not struggle to educate them,” Kamau added.

He also said he will consult with the local administration to have the family enrolled in NHIF so that the children will have access to health care.

He said it was encouraging to see government initiatives such as the Linda Mama programme reaching people in the grassroots.

The doctor in charge of the hospital Pius Opendi noted that the mission hospital signed a contract with the government to start offering free maternity services barely a year ago and that over 400 women have benefited so far.

“The programme has come in handy now that nurses are on strike in public hospitals which has caused mothers to flock our hospital,” Opendi said.

Opendi said the couple would need to buy a tin of formula milk every two days at a cost of 1,000 per tin.

-Alice Waithera