Nairobi woman who gave birth at Uhuru Park narrates how life has changed for the best

uko.co.ke Nov 9, 2019

When Rebecca Atieno hit the headlines in March 12, 2019, after delivering her baby girl at Uhuru Park all by her self, she never imagined the direction her life would take after that.

For about an hour, Atieno after the delivery, she sat under a tree to shield herself from the sun as she felt her strength trickle away yet too scared to ask for help from some street boys nearby.

Fortunately, a good samaritan passed by, a man in a black suit and a red tie walked towards her . stopped at her feet when he saw blood on her blouse, Atieno told Daily Nation.

"Unprepared for this moment, I used my phone sim card plate to cut the umbilical cord and then a dry piece of grass to tie it up," she narrated.

"Then I scooped my baby up in my sweater, held her firmly on my chest. We then sat under a tree to shield ourselves from the afternoon heat," she added.

The good samaritan then called an ambulance to take her to Kenyatta National Hospital where Atieno and her baby were admitted.

Unfortunately, she never got to learn the man's name or to meet him again so that she could thank him.

However, at Kenyatta hospital the new mom another good samaritan, Christine Nkatha, a kind-hearted woman who took Atieno and her daughter, Hope, to live with her family in Ongata Rongai.

"I was told that a local newspaper had carried my story after the Good Samaritan posted it on social media. Many well-wishers came to see me in the hospital and brought me baby clothes,"

" It was, however, only Christine, who came and offered me a place to live. For the last seven months, she has been a mother to me. Her family has been my family," she added.

Well, before the eventful day at Uhuru Park, Atieno had just been fired from her job at Muthurwa where she worked as a waitress at a makeshift hotel hawking food to sellers.

Before that, she worked at another makeshift hotel at Grogon, Kirinyaga Road, before it was brought down where she earned KSh 300 per day after a month of living on the streets

The 17-year-old had just moved to Nairobi to look for green pastures following the death of her parents and unbearable conditions with her stepmother back in Ahero.

"I was born an only child to a second wife in a family in Ahero, Kisumu, 20 years ago. I remember feeling unwanted growing up. I would be told time and time again how I didn't belong because my mother already had me when she got married, " she said.

"Things began getting worse when my mother died suddenly in 2014 and my father stopped paying my school fees. I was only 15." she added.

Armed with her KCPE certificate, she boarded a bus to Nairobi after hearing stories of bureaus that placed girls with families that needed a housemaid.

In the big city, she quickly learnt that getting a job was hard work and the fact that she had no ID only made her search harder ending up in the streets and scavenged for food at Muthurwa.

It was during this time that she discovered she was expectant and luckily, she encountered a lady on the streets who agreed to house her in her home in Bahati for four months.

She was well into her third trimester when she worked at Muthurwa and each day she was getting clumsier and slower leading to her being fired.

"It was after this that I began getting labour pains. I went and lay in a ditch where I delivered my daughter. She was in perfect health," she said

Christine picked her up from KNH and she has since then nursed and taken care of Atieno and her daughter.

"But I need to fend for myself now. I am stronger and I want to work and stand on my feet. What is slowing me down is my ID which I applied two months ago and is yet to be processed," she said.

"I still hope I can go back to school to study cosmetology and then get a job. The future can only get better. Maybe I'll even get married someday. Who knows?" she added.