A young mother from Botlokwa is seeking justice after the hospital where she gave birth failed to inform her that her newborn baby was suffering from a serious medical defect.
The 23-year-old mother, who asked that her identity be protected, gave birth to her baby on 14 May this year, at the Botlokwa Hospital in the Molemole Municipality. The mother and child were discharged the following day, and when she wanted to bathe the baby the day thereafter (16 May), she noticed a problem with the child's rectum. The baby apparently suffers from anorectal malfunction (where the anus and rectum do not develop properly).
The young mother claims that no-one at the hospital had informed her of her baby's defect. She even showed this newspaper her hospital card, which does not indicate anywhere that they had picked up on a defect in the baby at birth.
"Being a mother for the first time, I called my own mother to find out whether I could bathe the child, but she advised me not to bathe him as the weather was cold that day. She advised me only to take a wet cloth to clean and oil the baby. When I took off the nappy, I was surprised that it was still dry. I got worried, and that was when I discovered the malfunction," she said.
The woman alerted her mother, who drove them back to Botlokwa Hospital. On 17 May, the baby was transferred to Mankweng Hospital, where the undeveloped organs were opened up, so that the baby could pass stool and urine.
The mother has since been in contact with the Conty Lebepe Foundation, an organisation that fights for the rights of women and marginalised communities, to see that the Limpopo Department of Health is held responsible for this negligence.
Mr Tlou Moabelo, Deputy Secretary of the Conty Lebepe Foundation, said they were making an urgent appeal to the MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, to ensure that corrective measures are taken against every staff member at the hospital involved in this case.
Limpopo Mirror spoke to Dr Patrick Tigere and nurse Joyce Mutula at the Quality Care Private Hospital in Louis Trichardt to determine what the immediate procedures are when a baby is born, and especially in a case like this one.
"When a mother is in labour, there must always be a nurse and a midwife in attendance. Immediately after the baby is delivered, we weigh it and do a thorough inspection of the child from head to toe to make sure there are no abnormalities. If we find any, we [report it] to the relevant doctors," Mutula explained.
Doctor Tigere added that usually when a baby is born it passes stools and urine. "This is an indication that the bowel is functioning as it should. To also ascertain that the bowel is open, we insert a finger [into the rectum]. If it is not open, we inform the parents and refer them to a bigger hospital for more intensive care and treatment," said Dr Tigere.
Limpopo Mirror sent a media enquiry to the spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Health, Mr Neil Shikwambana, but at the time of our going to press, he had not responded. According to Capricorn FM news, however, investigations into the alleged case of negligence are underway.