Engela hospital delivers baby with ‘broken’ arms

TUYEIMO HAIDULA OSHAKATI A couple from Omhedi village in the Ohangwena Region is heartbroken after their baby girl was delivered at Engela State Hospital last month with one broken and one dislocated arm – six years after they lost their twin babies at the same hospital under alleged questionable circumstances.What hurts the most for Josua Kanyanda and his wife Olivia Joolokeni Shaumbwa is that this is the second time they have fallen victim to alleged childbirth negligence at the hospital. The couple told Namibian Sun that in 2016, they lost twins who were born prematurely at eight months.Shaumbwa (41) said she did not pursue the twins’ case to get answers as they felt that “God’s will [should] be done”.But now, for their one-month-old baby, they cannot turn a blind eye.Kanyanda yesterday went to the hospital to deliver a letter of complaint to matron Evalisa Hango. He accused the nurses at the hospital of “not being serious”, saying many babies die at the hospital and pregnant women lose their lives during birth. “I need an answer from the hospital matron. The carelessness of Engela nurses is hurting a lot of people. Maybe they [picked] the wrong careers and they were supposed to be teachers, but [are] forcing to be nurses, because there is no humanity,” he said. Passing the buckHango could not comment on the issue, saying she is on leave, and referred Namibian Sun to the senior medical officer at the hospital, Bernard Shikombe, who said he was not aware of the matter. Shikombe was also at pains to have any further discussions, and referred this publication to the health ministry’s public relations officer. Baby too bigShaumbwa said she was admitted to Engela hospital on New Year’s Day, 1 January, at around 17:00. She was due to be taken to theatre for a caesarian section as the doctors had advised her that her baby was too big for natural birth.She said when she arrived at the hospital, she went to the maternity ward and was admitted. The next day, 2 January, at around 14h00, she gave birth to her daughter – naturally.“The nurses are in the hospital to assist people but they do not have any care for the people. I arrived and an hour later I was still not attended to, despite complaining about pain and thirst. Only student nurses came to my rescue.“I was due for theatre, but when they put me on a drip and asked me to lie down, the baby’s head came out and they were forced to do a natural birth. The baby came out weighing 4.2 kg,” Shaumbwa recalled.She said what is most painful is that the nurses brought her a child with broken arms. She questioned how, as professionals, none of them picked it up. PainShaumbwa said her daughter cried the entire night and only the next day, when she had enough strength herself, she examined what was wrong.This, she said, is when she picked up that the baby had limp, sagging arms.“I asked a doctor who passed by to confirm my suspicion and immediately he wrote a letter that they send the baby for a scan. The scan results came back and confirmed the broken arm. A day later, they came to put plaster on the arm, despite having known the baby was in pain. I was not given any pain killers to administer to the baby,” she said. Back to hospitalTwo days later, the baby’s condition deteriorated and she began to change colour, Shaumbwa said. This is when they were rushed to the Oshakati State Hospital. They were admitted and were only discharged on 19 January.The parents, however, did not receive a report on what exactly is wrong with their baby.“What pains me is that they didn’t even apologise. I think that would have made me feel better if they acknowledged their mistake.“The left arm, the doctors at Oshakati told to me to do physiotherapy, but it is not responding,” she said. – tuyeimo@namibiansun.com

Engela hospital delivers baby with ‘broken’ arms

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-23

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Engela hospital delivers baby with ‘broken’ arms

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-23

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