Mom heartbroken over baby’s death at daycare

E LI MOLUHODHI … Methano ndika otamu monika Namupa Nambandi e li nomwana Norris Admire Ipinge. Ethano: Lya Gandjwa

A Grootfontein mother is battling to come to terms with her baby boy who mysteriously died while in the care of caregivers.

Namupa Nambandi is battling to deal with the death of her four-month-old son at a Grootfontein daycare centre.

According to the death certificate, Norris Admire Ipinge died of gastroenteritis or colitis on 4 April.

Otjozondjupa police spokesperson inspector Maureen Mbeha has confirmed the incident.

“The baby boy was allegedly brought in by the mother to the daycare at around 06h40 as usual.

“At around 08h30 the boy was put to sleep in the room by the caretaker, and around 10h30 the teacher went to check on the baby as it was time for feeding, allegedly only to find that the baby was not responding,” Mbeha says.

An inquest docket has been opened at Grootfontein Police Station and investigations continue, she says.

Nambandi says her baby was born without any complications, and was healthy at the time of his death.

After failing to find a suitable nanny, Nambandi says she had no option but to resort to put him in a darcare centre.

She took to social media recently to share her ordeal.

“It was on a Wednesday at 10h41 that I received a call from the daycare’s principal, asking me if the baby was fine when I took him to school at 06h40 that morning.

“I responded, saying he was fine,” Nambandi posted.

She was then told little Norris wasn’t breathing.

Accompanied by two of her colleagues, they rushed to the daycare where they found Norris dead.

She was told he fell asleep and didn’t wake up.

‘PALE SKIN’

“As a mother, I picked him up, believing he would respond although I could tell by his pale skin that he [has died]” she says.
Upon arrival at a nearby hospital, he was declared dead.

The doctor said there was nothing they could do, Nambandi posted.

“I communicated the post-mortem results with the police investigators who were working on the case, because I feel like the results are false.

“However, the police told me there is nothing they can do, and that the results were final,” she says.

Nambandi says representatives from the daycare centre attended the funeral and contributed N$2 000 towards it.

CAREGIVER QUIET

The mother, who is still to receive counselling, says what hurts her most is that the caregiver who was at the scene never said a word.
The principal “was the one doing all the explaining”.
“I am still mourning my baby not knowing what exactly caused his death, and the daycare is still operating as if nothing happened,” Nambandi says.

PRINCIPAL SPEAKS

The principal, who refused to provide The Namibian with her name, says Norris usually has a nap at 08h30.

“At 10h00 I told the teacher and caregiver to wake the baby up since it was feeding time, however, she came to me saying the baby is not waking up,” the principal says.

She says Nambandi normally prepares Norris’ formula, which he drank on the morning he died before going to sleep.

“The other two bottles were all full by the time we called the mother to come to the daycare,” the principal says.

TRAUMA

Windhoek-based clinical psychologist Shaun Whittaker says it must be extremely traumatic for Nambandi to have lost her baby in such a tragic way.
“I can imagine that she is still in tremendous shock.

“For the first three months after losing a loved one people tend to be in severe shock and find it difficult to accept and make peace,” he says.
It takes a very long time to go through the bereavement process, he says, especially with the death of a child.

Whittaker advises Nambandi to seek professional help.

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