A 30-year-old mother from Praktiseer near Burgersfort in Limpopo wants nurses at Dilokong Hospital to take responsibility for their alleged negligent treatment.

On Thursday 8 May Karabo Magabe started getting contractions and was rushed to Dilokong Hospital. When she arrived at the hospital the doctor said she was experiencing false labour and wanted to admit her to the antenatal care ward. But Magabe tells Health-e News that she refused, as she knew was ready to give birth. 

She was admitted to the labour ward where she started to cry for help. Magabe says the nurses ignored her cries, and told her it was false labour pains. She was then left alone, unattended.

“I was in a lot of pain and bleeding as my water broke. I shouted for help telling the nurses that the baby was about to be born,” she recalls. “One nurse started to shout and insult me. She ordered me to stand up and follow her so she could help me deliver.” 

Not knowing where she was going, Magabe says she followed the nurse out of the labour ward. 

“My little baby came out while I was in the hospital passage following her. She fell, head-first, onto the hospital floor in full view of nurses and other patients. I could see the umbilical cord was no longer attached,” Magabe tells Health-e News from her home in Praktiseer. 

She says that her newborn sustained injuries to her face and her left eye was bruised. According to Magabe, the nurse shouted at her, saying: “What, are you trying to kill your own child!”  

The mother and her child were discharged from the hospital the following day. Magabe is grateful that her daughter survived and seems healthy, but she wants the nurse to be held accountable for her actions. 

“When I think of that hospital my heart bleeds with the sad memories of the horror and pain I endured,” she says. 

The Limpopo health department says it’s aware of the incident. 

“The hospital management is busy with an enquiry on the matter to establish all the facts so that proper and informed action can be taken. We will be able to comment on the issue extensively once we have clear outcomes of the enquiry,” says department spokesperson Neil Shikwambana. – Health-e News