A newborn baby boy who was rescued by hospital staff at the Rumbek Hospital in South Sudan’s Lakes State on April 28th died a few days later, authorities there said.
The baby was thrown into the pit latrine by its mother immediately after birth.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj over the weekend, Rumbek Hospital Medical Director Dr. Mawet Bol Madit said the child succumbed to injuries sustained during the fall on the 4th of May.
Dr. Bol said the baby’s mother had successfully delivered a bouncing baby boy at the hospital but soon after a patient heard the cries of a baby in the latrine.
“It was on 28th April at night when an unknown woman came to the hospital and she delivered a healthy baby. But she decided to throw it in the pit latrine. A few minutes later one patient at the hospital visited the latrine which is when she heard the sound of a baby crying inside the latrine. She then called us and we managed to rescue the baby,” he added.
He revealed that the baby was then immediately taken into the Intensive Care Unit for urgent attention.
“The child was in the ICU since the rescue happened but he could make it because he got head injures due to the impact of the hit,” Bol said.
Maj. Elijah Mabor Makuac, the state police spokesperson, confirmed the incident and said the mother is arrested pending investigations.
“Yes, I can confirm that the suspect is in police custody waiting for police investigation,” he said.
However, a local activist who preferred anonymity told Radio Tamazuj the child died due to a lack of proper medical attention at the hospital.
“When I heard that a child was rescued from a pit latrine, I went to the hospital and asked the management if they could allow me to adopt the child but the hospital refused,” he said. “I kept visiting until the child passed on. So, it is because there are no proper medical facilities at the hospital that the child died due to the head injury he got when he was thrown.”
Cases of children abandoned at health facilities have been on the rise across South Sudan.