Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital (TMRT) left the Mtundu family from Vosloorus devastated after allegedly failing to help the mother deliver their second daughter, who eventually died in her womb on March 7.
The grieving family, mother Princes Mtundu (26), father Martin Matshete (35) and grandmother Christina Ramaniba (56), were saddened and heartbroken to lose a daughter before they could even see or name her.
They voiced dissatisfaction with TMRT, citing the hospital defended its negligent conduct and avoided accountability.
Mtundu told Kathorus MAIL she was admitted for a caesarean section (C-section) at TMRT on May 2. However, she was not operated on and instead was shown a list with her at number five for May 5.
However, on May 5, when a nurse was preparing her for the operation, the doctor stopped him and said that they could not proceed because he was knocking off as it was late, and they did not have gowns.
When the nurse tried to confirm if the doctor would attend to her the following morning, on May 6, the doctor replied that has was not working that morning.
She further said the doctor explained to her that because they could not do her C-section, they would slot her in for May 8.
“I told them that if they would not operate, they should discharge me because there was no reason to keep me at the hospital. I was admitted on May 2, and on May 5, I was still not getting help,” said Mtundu.
She said she could have gone to another medical facility, but the doctor refused to discharge her. He asked if she wanted to be discharged before disappearing.
Her mother, Christina Ramaniba, visited her at the hospital during visiting hours on May 5.
“When she arrived, she found me on my bed. I could not do anything. She asked if I felt labour pains, and I told her I was not. I delivered my first child through a C-section, so I do not know the feeling.”
Ramaniba twice requested help from the nurses as she tried to explain her daughter was in pain. The nurses said there was nothing they could do, explained Mtundu.
She said a nurse working the night shift assessed her. The nurse said the child’s heart rate was unstable and instructed Mtundu to ask the day shift nurses to check the baby’s heart.
When the nurse checked the heart, she found it had stopped. The unborn infant was taken for a sonar scan by another doctor, who found the heartbeat had stopped. He fetched the same doctor who said he was not working on May 6.
“When he arrived, he checked the baby. He sat next to me and said he was sorry. ‘Sorry for what?’ I asked.
“He said the child had died. Only now did he say sorry, while I had pleaded for help since May 2. Today is May 6, and my baby has died,” said the frustrated mother.
Mtundu said the other patients were puzzled when she told them she had lost her child because they found her at the hospital, and some of them had already left, yet she was not helped.
According to her, the body was removed from her womb only in the early hours of May 7.
According to Mtundu, before operating, the doctor insisted she took pills and go for labour induction, citing that the body would push itself out. This is despite the clinical notes stating she has to have a C-section.
She was taken for labour induction at 20:00 on May 6, but when another female doctor arrived in the early hours of May 7, she asked why Mtundu was given medication because her records stated she needed an operation.
“That is when they realised they had made a mistake, and they rushed me to the theatre. It was around 04:00 on May 7 when they operated on me.”
She said she felt disappointed and kept asking herself rhetorical questions after losing the child.
“What wrong had I done? Why was this happening to me? Yes, the doctors say I am young, but they will never replace my child. We only have three babies, and it has to be between five-year gaps,” she noted.
The 26-year-old thought her first daughter would have a younger sister.
She said she was happy and never missed her clinic appointments, which is why she never thought of aborting her child.
“I am very hurt, more so because on the day she was supposed to give birth, they kept insisting that she was young and would deliver the baby naturally, but we knew that she birthed her firstborn through an operation,” said Ramaniba.
Ramaniba said what hurt her the most was that the hospital did not attend to her daughter. She was left alone after losing her child.
Matshete said he did not feel okay and that the incident had driven him into depression.
“Since my child passed away, I do not have any appetite. It is very stressful, to be honest. My heart is broken. Even now, the hospital does nothing except defend itself,” said Matshete.
“I used my own money to arrange for the burial because TMRH did not want to take accountability,” he concluded.
Mtundu said the hospital offered her trauma counselling, but she refused because the only therapy she wanted was for the doctor who had refused to help her.
“I wanted him to see what he had done so that next time he can take pregnant women who are in pain and want to have a C-section seriously, but they never brought him.”
She said the hospital had not given them an account of what led to the death.
Jabu Masitha, a psychologist at Clinix Botshelong-Empilweni Private Hospital, said people went through a lot after experiencing a loss, and it was hard for her to pinpoint how Mtundu could have been affected without seeing her.
She noted it depended on how the family supported her during the process.
Kathorus MAIL approached the Gauteng Department of Health and TMRH for comment, but none has been received at the time of going to print.
