Veteran Kenyan actress Auntie Jemimah has shared the heartbreaking experience of losing her newborn baby, revealing the emotional and physical trauma she endured during the ordeal. The renowned thespian lost her first child in 2023 at 34 weeks of pregnancy, and she recently opened up about the incident in a candid interview with Chris The Bass.
Auntie Jemimah recounted the profound grief and shock she felt after delivering a stillborn baby. “What was running through my mind was that God is unfair, because why would you let me carry a child to 34 weeks and then take the child? 34 is a full baby, and I asked Him so many questions,” she said. She described the moment of labor and delivery, explaining that despite giving birth naturally, there was no crying, no first embrace, and no chance to hold her child.
She also revealed the difficulties women face when handling the loss of a child in hospitals. Although she had a generally good experience with medical staff during her delivery, she was unaware that bereaved mothers could arrange for the burial of their babies. The process, she said, was handled insensitively and lacked compassion. “They told me that City Mortuary comes to collect the babies that have died. So you pay a certain fee, which is KSh 2,000 and something, and then you get a receipt. Once I delivered, I stayed with the baby for a while, took photos, and then I left her in the delivery room,” Jemimah explained.
The most traumatic moment, she shared, occurred when the mortuary attendant collected her baby. “The lady from the mortuary came, knocked on my door the next day, and she called out Mercy, and I was like, yeah, that’s me. She threw the receipt at me, and it fell down. When I went to pick it up, I realised she was carrying my baby in a garbage bag. It was the most inhumane thing I went through,” Jemimah recalled.
Beyond her personal grief, Auntie Jemimah used the interview to highlight the urgent need for better treatment and sensitivity for women who lose children in hospitals. She emphasized that the current procedures, especially regarding mortuary services, often compound trauma for mothers who have already suffered the loss of a child.
Her story has sparked conversations on social media, with many users sharing their own experiences of losing children and the challenges they faced in maternity wards. Some recalled similar treatment, while others empathized deeply with Jemimah’s ordeal, noting the lack of proper facilities and emotional support for bereaved mothers.
Auntie Jemimah’s candidness sheds light on a sensitive issue in maternal healthcare and has highlighted the need for hospitals to handle such cases with dignity, empathy, and respect. Her bravery in sharing her experience is creating awareness and sparking a much-needed conversation about improving care for women who experience pregnancy loss.
