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{
    "id": 1059437,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1059437/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 271,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13156,
        "legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
        "slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. On this subject of cerebral palsy, let me disclose that when I was young in my practice, I represented a couple. That couple had a 14-year-old girl who suffered from cerebral palsy. I have listened to the Statement of Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve and those who have mentioned about maternal healthcare because I did a lot of research, the correct position is this: Many of the children who end up with cerebral palsy get it during birth. That is when it happens. When that child misses oxygen for a period of less than five minutes, that child gets cerebral palsy. This matter made me so paranoid that when my two children were born I was there to check so that there is no distress because it is that distress to the mother that causes cerebral palsy. The tragedy is that in most of our hospitals women would be told to continue pushing and that is when it occurs. I went to a hospital in Sultan where a mother was in labour for 24 hours. It is when the child is at the bridge that he gets cerebral palsy. Speak the truth. Tell people that you cannot have a mother in labour for all that time because some mothers cannot dilate and it is not their mistake. It is at that point that doctors should take preventive action. I got the UNICEF to donate the ultrasound machine to check the distress of a foetus when they are being born. In Kenya, the tragedy is that we only have at most 10 experts of cerebral palsy. This child was born under distress and was so small at 14 years, but no doctor could testify against the doctor who made that mistake. Recently, a gentleman walked into my office, a week or two weeks ago. His child was under distress in a hospital in Nairobi, but was bone with acute cerebral palsy. He was kept in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for three weeks and they were left with a bill of Kshs4 million when the child died. The child was buried and is when the parents then realized something was wrong. By the time they came to me, I said, we do not even have a case. This is because that child is gone, but the record shows that your mother was under distress for more than 14 hours. Madam Deputy Speaker, the answer is in maternal healthcare. Sen. Lokorio Were has said that you cannot have a child at the bridge for five minutes and that five minutes will cause cerebral palsy which is irreversible. That child becomes deformed and its brain will never develop. Thank God. The ones Sen. Sakaja talked about, in most cases, he will live for more than eight years. Those who have lived for more than eight years, God has been graceful to them. However, they do not get the attention they ought to get. They are treated as if they are disabled. They are treated badly and do not get any recognition. I would urge you to have a Motion, get some way where we can have cerebral palsy as part of maternal healthcare, and in the Health Bill as a subject that is touching on the pregnancy of women and having every hospital with an ultrasound machine. I thank you."
}