By Maryanne W. Waweru l maryanne@mummytales.com
This article highlights the maternal death of a young Kenyan woman – Elizabeth Wairimu, 27, in Nakuru County.
This is story three of the Wanjiku Kumbukumbu project by Mummy Tales, an initiative that is documenting maternal deaths in Kenya. This is borne from the questions we often ask when we learn of a woman’s death while giving life:
“Waaah!! Kwani what happened? Si she was in a hospital? What went wrong?
Read: Vanessa Wanjiku’s death while giving life at the age of 26
Read: Phanice Kerubo, 27, dies from childbirth complications
The ‘Wanjiku Kumbukumbu’ project is a memorial board for the Kenyan mothers we have lost to maternal health complications. This is Elizabeth Wairimu ‘s story.
April 2025: Elizabeth Wairimu, 27, Nakuru County
On Friday 18 April, Benson Kinyanjui accompanied his wife to the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital in Nakuru county, as reported by NTV Kenya. Due for delivery, the couple anticipated the birth of their baby that Easter weekend.
“When she arrived at the hospital, she was in good health. I’m the one who personally brought her to the hospital, as we happily chatted along the way. She was cheerful and did not have any problems at all,” says Kinyanjui.
Wairimu was scheduled for a caesarean section (CS) on the same day. However, the surgery was postponed to the following day.
The following morning, on Saturday 19 April, Wairimu was wheeled to the theatre. However, after an agonizing six-hour wait, the doctors emerged with very disturbing news. There was a complication. Apparently, Wairimu had developed breathing difficulties after the surgery.
“They said that it was either her or the baby,” her distraught husband recalls of the doctor’s words.
Wairimu was in critical condition and urgently needed to be transferred to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Shockingly, it then took a distressing two-hour wait for an ambulance to arrive and transfer Wairimu to the ICU, which was only 300 meters away (within the same health facility).
Ridicule by medics
Anxiously waiting for good news from the ICU, the family says that their attempts to get updates from the medical team on Wairimu’s status were met with unkind and dismissive responses, further worsening their pain.
The family believes the hospital was negligent in how they handled Wairimu, thus leading to her untimely demise. In addition to accusing the hospital of negligence, Wairimu’s family further questioned why, upon her demise at 5.41pm, they were only notified of her death at 8.00pm.
The hospital’s management however refuted the family’s negligence claims. The below explanation was given by the Nakuru county Health CEC.
A postmortem would later reveal that Wairimu died of respiratory distress due to pulmonary embolism. Her baby survived.
If you would like to voluntarily provide information about a mother who has lost her life due to maternal health complications in 2025, or if you would like to support the #WanjikuKumbukumbu project by Mummy Tales, please reach me at maryanne@mummytales.com
Mummy Tales by Maryanne W. Waweru is a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan moms here. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK l YOU TUBE l TWITTER
