Kamuli teenager produces triplets, now stranded

By Tom Gwebayanga

Medical workers in Kamuli Mission Hospital in Kamuli district are stranded with a teenage student who delivered triplets by Caesarean section.

Jamawa Babirye, aged 15, delivered triplets last Monday night after a relative dumped her in the maternity ward the previous evening and vanished.

She is a student of Lubiri Secondary School in Kampala.

“We’re happy that the operation was successful but concerned about the wellbeing of the mother and the babies,” Rose Thumithor, the hospital administrator said on Wednesday.

The visibly weary young mother told New Vision that her woes started last year when she met Farouk Nkaja who impregnated her.

He is a draper in St. Balikuddembe market (Owino) in Kampala.

When Babirye went for a scan some weeks later and found out that she was carrying triplets, Nkaja denied responsibility for the pregnancy.

“He [Nkaja] said in his clan, they never be [sic] triplets and abandoned me in the clinic and I have lived on handouts from relatives and sympathizers since April,” she narrated.

Before coming to Kamuli, the young mother said she was staying with her aunt, Margaret Nankwanga, who is a resident of Bulopa.

Sr. Regina Atimo, the Principal Tutor of Kamuli School of Nursing and Midwifery said the students had contributed some baby cloths, dresses and shawls but that more challenges await the teenage mother of three.

“We can avail some food but there’s need for more support if the babies and the mum are to stay alive,” Atimo said.

Dr. Joseph Galiwango, who operated on Babirye said one of the babies was transversely positioned and it had been dangerous to expose her to a normal delivery.

The delicate babies, two boys and a girl weigh 2.5, 1.9 and 1.3 kilos respectively and are active, according to Atimo.
 
Babirye is stuck on how she is to clear her maternity bills and is appealing to sympathizers for assistance.