Conjoined twins born through caesarean section yesterday morning in Mombasa are yet to be flown to Nairobi for specialized treatment because Kenyatta National Hospital does not have enough ventilators.
By Friday afternoon, the twins were still at Coast General Hospital despite earlier indications from the facility’s administration that they were to be flown to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in the morning.
Although Amref flying doctors were ready to transport the babies, KNH managers said they have only one ICU bed with a ventilator and each baby needs its own breathing machine.
An Amref official said that following the development, they had decided to contact Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital to see if it can admit the babies as part of the non-profit organization’s corporate social responsibility, but they are yet to receive feedback from the health facility.
Efforts to reach KNH spokesperson Simon Ithae to comment on the status of the hospital in regards to admitting the conjoined twins were not fruitful.
Dr Khandwalla said the boys require a team of medical specialists among them pediatric and plastic surgeons to investigate the organs the conjoined twins share.
Preliminary investigations show that the twins may be sharing a liver but each has their own heart and kidney.