A POST which appeared on Facebook, on a page called GoPetition, on Wednesday, August 15, caused alarm bells to ring, as it was claimed that a baby was abducted from Netcare Mulbarton Hospital. The claim has also been brought to the attention of the local police, who are investigating it.
Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA), on behalf of Netcare Mulbarton Hospital, said, “Netcare Mulbarton Hospital strongly refutes claims made in a Facebook post by an individual that a baby allegedly born to a woman at the hospital on Tuesday, August 14, may have been abducted by ‘criminal bogus doctors and hospital staff’.
“There is no truth to claims made to the SAPS and the hospital’s management by a woman, who identified herself as the sister of the woman who had given birth to the baby, that she had given birth to a stillborn baby at the hospital on Tuesday, August 14.”
Commenting on the allegations, Nellie Koen, general manager of Netcare Mulbarton Hospital, stated that the hospital had carefully looked into the claims made by the two women, but had found no evidence to substantiate any of their allegations.
Koen explained that the staff and management of the hospital were taken aback when a woman arrived at the hospital in the company of her fiancée, family members and two police officers on Wednesday, August 15, demanding that the body of her dead baby be handed to them.
“According to the woman she had delivered a stillborn baby at 8.30am on Tuesday in the labour ward of the hospital with the help of an obstetrician and gynaecologist.” The women reportedly stated that she had been consulting with the doctor at the hospital in the five months prior to giving birth.
According to Koen, the name and surname provided by the woman was not that of any doctor practising at the hospital.
“However, we asked the woman to show us the consulting rooms where she visited him. The rooms that she pointed out where the consultations allegedly took place are in fact those of a general surgeon and not an obstetrician and gynaecologist. In addition, the reception staff at the rooms indicated that they had never seen her before,” noted Koen.
The woman told hospital management she visited the obstetrician and gynaecologist’s rooms on Tuesday morning at 8.20am and he had then sent her to the labour ward to deliver her baby, but the baby was stillborn. However, when a member of the hospital’s management team took her to the labour ward in the company of family members and the police, the security guard on duty at the unit at the time of her alleged admission to the unit and a maternity staff member who was on duty from 7am to 7pm on Tuesday indicated that they had never seen her.
“The police were also offered access to the labour ward record book, which showed no record of her having been admitted to the maternity unit or labour ward on the day. There was also no record of her being admitted to the hospital.
“The woman claimed she left the hospital on the same day she had given birth. If a patient wanted to discharge themselves from hospital without their doctor authorising their discharge, they would have to complete and sign legally required documentation and we do not have any record of such,” added Koen.
Koen said the hospital found it hard to understand why she would make unfounded claims of such a serious nature.
“We are most concerned about the incredible allegations made by her and the woman claiming to be her sister, as they can damage the reputation of our hospital. It is also most unfair to the doctors and staff members at the hospital who work diligently to ensure the well-being of each person who entrust their care to us. We have been in communication with the police and have reserved our right to take legal action to protect our hospital’s reputation from spurious and unfounded claims of this nature,” concluded Mrs Koen.
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Extensions for Netcare Mulbarton Hospital
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