CAPTION: 20-year-old Rebecca Atieno at the Kenyatta National Hospital Kenyans on social media are an angry lot. This comes after the story of a helpless young woman who gave birth at Uhuru Park went viral.
On Tuesday, Rebecca Atieno, 20, was forced to give birth at Uhuru Park just moments after being fired from her job.
Rebecca had initially gone to Uhuru Park in search of some peace and quiet so she could think of what to do next following her firing.
Confused and exhausted from the heavy pregnancy, she finally found a spot at the park. Little did she know that was where her child would be born.
The young lady had a lot on her mind. Just the previous night, her landlord had kicked her out of a rundown lodging in Muthurwa where she paid Ksh. 50 per night.
While at the park, Rebecca felt an urgent need to use the washroom, but there was one slight problem. She couldn't afford to pay 10 shillings in order to gain access to a public toilet. Since she had no other option, Rebecca surrendered her phone to one of the public toilet attendants.
Just a few minutes past 2 p.m, Rebecca's water broke. All alone, helpless, and in severe pain, she tried supporting herself against a tree in the park hoping that someone would notice her and come to her rescue.
Roughly 30 minutes later, unaided, Rebecca gave birth to a baby girl and wrapped her in her sweater. A good Samaritan who was passing by the park noticed that she had given birth on her own and alerted members of the St John Ambulance who took her to the Kenyatta National Hospital. The irony is that just two days before Rebecca gave birth, runners participating in the "Beyond Zero Marathon", whose sole purpose is ensuring mothers like Rebecca gain access to proper, free maternal care, passed by the same park.
This is, therefore, why Kenyans on social media are absolutely fuming over yesterday's incident.
Here are some of their reactions below.