By Kungu Al-mahadi Adam
Kampala: All is not well for Jackline Nabagereka, whose remaining twin has also died only four days after the passing on of the other twin at St. Francis Hospital Nsambya, commonly known as Nsambya Hospital.
READ ALSO: After 18 Years Of Childlessness, Woman Dies After Giving Birth To Twins
Following disturbing episodes of stomach complications at 6 months of her pregnancy, Nabagereka was two months back rushed to Case Clinic where doctors established that she wasn’t in position of holding the twins up to the time of normal delivery. As such, they decided to stich her cervix to aid her hold up to at least 7 months when they hoped to put them in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
NICU is where babies born early, or those with health problems or a difficult birth are put as they get around-the-clock care from a team of experts.
However, her condition worsened after three days and was referred to Nsambya Hospital where she was operated on and the babies put in NICU where they have been for two months.
Sadly, on December 20, one of the twins died. Meanwhile, Nabagereka since then has been enduring unbearable pain, nursing herself as well as doing the kangaroo role for the remaining twin. As if that was not enough, the remaining twin has on December 25 died.
Despite this tragedy, the parents to the deceased twins still owe Nsambya Hospital a whooping Shs17m, after affording to clear a partial payment of Shs12 million, out of the Shs29 million total that they have to clear before they can be released from the Hospital. As such, they can not be allowed to take the body or mother out of the hospital without clearing the bill to zero balance, our sources revealed.
The sister to the ailing mother of the dead twins told this reporter that the family can’t stretch any further, having sold literally everything they had to at least get the Shs12 million paid.
She thus appealed to good samaritans to come to their rescue by contributing towards the same in order to be released from the hospital ‘chains’ so they can gain access to their body and take it for a decent burial.
Good samaritans can use the following contacts to reach out to them for any assistance;
0703053820-Jackeline Nabagereka or 0779720778 David Muyomba, 0785566155 Victoria Namulwana, and 0759771849 Sali Deogracious.
Merciless Nsambya Hospital
St Francis’ Hospital, Nsambya has been in the spotlight for detaining people like Nabagereka after failing to clear their unexpected exorbitant bills.
In July this year, the hospital reportedly detained for over three months, a mother, Caroline Nassaka, who lost her unborn child over uncleared Shs 2.2 million medical bills.
Nassaka was admitted at Nsambya hospital on March 24, 2020, after developing pregnancy-related complications. During the operation, she lost the baby and after four days of treatment, her bill had accumulated to Shs3,932,300 as of March 27, 2020, when she was due for discharge.
Her sister, identified as Pricilla Nassaka and the mother said ‘Caroline was traumatized.’
“I confirm that Caroline Nasaka is in the hospital according to the receipts. She has been there for three months. She’d been a surgical case, she has healed its just that emotionally she’s downcast, she’s stigmatized for lack of better words because of how the people who come to lobby for their money treat them and the words they tell them. And then remember because she was discharged but then again she stayed in hospital after having lost a child. So that trauma is something she has not dealt with till today.” said Priscilla.
Before the above incident, the hospital had previously held another victim, a 17-year-old fishmonger who lost his arm to a crocodile in Buikwe district after he allegedly failed to pay his medical bills of Shs 4.3 million.
Last year, four mothers and their newly born babies were detained by the same hospital, after failing to pay medical bills which ranged between Shs 200,000 and Shs 800,000.
