Mpilo detains new mothers over bills

The women spoken to yesterday alleged they were moved to the benches in the discharge ward and told to find their own means of getting food or place to sleep.
The bills range between $100 and $200 depending on the method of delivery and period spent at the hospital.
Hospital officials are reportedly demanding payment upfront before they can be discharged.
Those who undertake to make payment plans were being forced to produce proof of residence and $50 cash to be released.
Although the hospital’s acting chief executive officer Dr Wedu Ndebele declined to comment demanding to be given names of the detained women, this reporter visited the hospital and talked to the women who confirmed that they were detained.
They were crowded in Ward Two on the ground floor of the wing with their newborn babies where their names were being called out one by one and those who could not raise the money remained in the ward.
A security guard was stationed at the door of the ward so that they could not escape.
Some relatives who had visited them were being told to go back and bring the money and proof of residence before they could take their loved ones home.
Dr Ndebele alleged there were people who had an agenda against the health institution.
“Give us the names of those people then I can give you a comment. There are people with an agenda and I cannot comment unless you give us their names.
“You could have gotten someone to explain to you the procedure when you visited the hospital. Yes, nurses do not have the authority to charge people at the wards as that is done at the accounts department and it could not have happened that way,” he said.
Indications are that scores of other women have had birth records for their babies confiscated, as the health institution wants “its money”.
Mothers are supposed to be provided with beds at the post-natal ward after giving birth and discharged later but because they would not have paid, they are detained in the discharge ward and allegedly told to look for somewhere to sleep within the ward.
Chronicle visited a 16-year-old girl in one of the eastern suburbs who gave birth on Sunday morning at the hospital and was detained until her aunt went to talk to the hospital officials for her to be released.
The juvenile mother said she was admitted to the hospital after 12 midnight on Sunday and gave birth before 6am and was charged $198.
“I started having labour pains on Saturday at about 5pm and we went to Mpilo after 12 midnight. I gave birth just before 6am on Sunday and was told I could not be discharged until I paid the full amount,” said the juvenile mother.
Her aunt, who also requested anonymity, said it was unfair for the hospital to charge exorbitant fees because her niece had spent less than five hours at the hospital.
She said her niece’s pregnancy records were in the rural areas where she was registered and could not have been charged as a Bulawayo resident.
“We rushed her to North End Clinic when she started having labour pains but we were told there was no electricity and we went to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) where we were told that the hospital’s maternity wing was fully booked.
“We then went to Mpilo where she was finally admitted after 12 midnight not knowing that was the beginning of a nightmare. She was only admitted for about five hours and we wonder how they came up with the $198 bill,” said the aunt.
She said the officials at the hospital only released her niece after she produced her proof of residence.
“They released her after I went with the proof of residence but they promised they would follow up their money by way of debt collectors. What pains is that she only came here and went into labour but she had registered in Enyandeni in Gwanda district where she lives.
“Those at the ward told us their concern was that the address provided is a local one and they would want their money in full,” she said.
“What they are doing is unfair because they even took away the birth record which means the child would never apply for a birth certificate. Is that not an infringement of children’s rights?”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the women at the hospital said the situation was tough for them as they were being monitored not to escape.
“They want $50 cash, proof of residence and a copy of national identity card to release us so that we go and look for their money. The bill is just too much I was told that I owe $200.
“There was another woman who was here last week and was only discharged when her child died while there is someone who gave birth on 6 January and is still detained,” said another woman whose relatives had visited her and she went to meet them outside.
Another woman from Nkayi reportedly visited a relative who was ill and suddenly went into labour and was rushed to the hospital and was detained because she could not raise the required money and has no proof of residence.
Last year, the health institution made headlines after mothers were forced to sit on benches for long hours soon after delivering as it could not cope with the number of people needing services.