Mom relives grief after baby still not buried nearly two years after death

Nearly two years after losing her newborn son atFrere Hospital, a Duncan Village mother has discovered that the baby she believed had been buried by the state was never laid to rest. Monica Ndwebisa, 35, believes she consented to a state burial in May 2024 after herchild dieddays after birth. But 21 months later, she received a call from the forensic department informing her that theinfant’s bodywas still at the mortuary.

The revelation has forced her to relive her grief and left her demanding answers from health authorities. “I gave birth via C-section on a Monday at 2.45am, I was then given my son at 6am after he was examined,” she said. “The report came, saying that the baby was fine, until 11am when the nurse discovered that my child’s skin was changing colour to orange.

“On the Tuesday, they took the child to the nursery so that they could examine and keep an eye on him. “On the Thursday, the doctors were doing their regular check-ups and they could confirm that the boy was recovering, but they wanted to assess his weight.” She said that on the Saturday, the day she was due to be discharged, she noticed something was wrong while preparing to breastfeed. “I alerted the doctor that my son was not breathing, they tried to resuscitate him, but they could not succeed. “On that day, we were supposed to be discharged, instead of signing a discharge sheet, I had to sign a document stating that I would leave my son’s body with the state.