A couple from Irigu-ini village in Kigumo constituency, Murang’a, is appealing for help after getting triplets.
Grace Njambi delivered the three babies on March 1 at Kigumo Health Centre, in an event that she said shocked her.
Njambi's scan taken during her pregnancy indicated that she was carrying twins.
Another scan was taken when she neared her due date and the doctors said that both babies were okay and that one was in a sitting position which necessitated a Caesarian Section.
On the delivery day, Njambi said she woke up to find there were three babies, one boy and two girls, saying she was surprised as she had expected twins.
Barely two weeks later, Njambi is exhausted. She is not able to produce enough milk to feed all three babies and is still nursing her CS wound.
The babies cry all day and night, she said, barely giving her time to get the much-needed rest for her body to recuperate.
She said she had had three other babies and that life has gotten drastically hard.
Her husband Peter Njuguna is a shoemaker and has been forced to stop going to work to help take care of her and the infants.
“I don’t have enough milk but I also don’t have money for nan milk. The babies are not feeding as they should. If only I could get extra hands to help with the babies so that my husband can go back to work,” she said.
Njuguna said he is happy for the blessing of triplets that now bring the number of his children to six.
She said with the slumped economy, his earnings as a cobbler have been reduced over time and cannot sustain the expanded family.
“Since my wife gave birth, I have had to stop going to work to take care of her, the babies and the other children. With insufficient milk, the babies cry all the time,” he said.
Njuguna appealed to the government and well-wishers to help him get a job that will help him support his family.
His firstborn, he said, is in Form 1 while the secondborn is in Grade 5 and the third born in Grade 2.
“I don’t mind any job. I will be a sweeper if that is what is available. I have to support my family one way or another,” he said.
Neighbor Mary Wangechi said she has been visiting the homestead to help the new mother with her household chores.
As a mother, Wangechi understands that Njambi cannot tend to her chores until her CS wound heals.
“If she can find a house help to help with the babies, then she would be able to resume her daily activities and complement her husband’s earnings after she is healed,” she said.
Wangechi said the family needs lactating foods to help the mother produce more milk and nan to ensure the babies are full.
Peter Maina, a director at Makomboki tea factory urged the local leadership to help Njuguna find employment saying it will ensure the family is independent.
He said shoe making cannot help bring up six children with the heightened cost of living.
“We are happy for the babies. This has not been seen in our area for decades and nobody knows their future but they need help now,” he said.
