Alleged neglect by three hospital nurses probed

“THERE’S no way we can get our child back… now there’s just pain. She is in pain.”

These were the sad words of a Joburg man whose wife was allegedly neglected by nurses at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital last week while she was in premature labour.

The man, who asked that he and his wife not be named, spoke briefly to The Star yesterday and told of the family’s grief at losing their child following the alleged nursing negligence.

He said the family were still mourning and trying to come to terms with what happened.

The Gauteng Department of Health has said any disciplinary measures against the three nurses who were on duty the night the woman went into unassisted labour would focus on “corrective measures”.

The department also maintained the nurses’ actions did not cause the baby’s death.

“The nurses did not cause the death of the baby. The patient was five months pregnant, and such pregnancies – once out – aren’t viable, meaning chances of them being alive are very minimal,” departmental spokesman Steve Mabona said yesterday.

According to Eyewitness News, witnesses described how other patients in the ward tried in vain to call for medical help for the young woman, who was screaming in agony.

“What they did was wrong,” the would-be father said.

Mabona said nine women were patients in the gynaecology ward on the night of the incident.

He could not confirm allegations that the nurses swore at the woman while she was in labour and called her “stupid” – but said the department was investigating every circumstance surrounding the matter.

“The patient was first counselled with regard to the fact that her pregnancy was at a five months stage (and) the outcome of the evacuation would not yield a viable baby.

“She was informed that should she fall pregnant again, she should report to the nearest clinic in eight weeks in order to have her pregnancy monitored.

“Such miscarriages sometimes recur,” Mabona said.

Local ward councillor Basil Douglas said he had spoken to the woman and that she was still too distraught to talk about the incident. He added he would be “very vigilant” in following up the department’s investigation.

“The net (of the investigation) needs to be cast wide and the whole thing needs to be done in a holistic way because there have been other incidents at the hospital, such as the generators failing to activate during load shedding,” he said.

The IFP in Gauteng weighed in on the matter, expressing anger.

Caucus leader Bonginkosi Dhlamini said: “This kind of behaviour cannot and should not, if true, be tolerated in our society. Compassion and respect are essential qualities that form the basis of nursing and, therefore, should never for any reason be broken by any individual in the profession.”