Mother wins as SCA finds Health MEC liable for son’s birth injury due to negligence at Eastern Cape hospital

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled in favour of a mother who sued the Eastern Cape Health MEC for medical negligence after her son suffered a brain injury during birth.

The woman brought the claim on behalf of her son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy caused by a brain injury due to lack of oxygen during his birth in 2013.

The SCA judgment overturned a prior ruling by the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha, which had dismissed the negligence claim.

Mother sues for medical negligence

The mother had gone into labour on the morning of 14 February 2013 and was admitted to the Madzikane Ka Zulu Memorial Hospital around 7.30am.

Her labour appeared normal, and by 10am, she was in the early active phase.

However, medical records show a lack of regular monitoring, particularly of the foetal heart rate, a key indicator of foetal distress.

Despite guidelines stating that foetal heart rate should be monitored every 30 minutes during the active stage of labour, no readings were recorded between 10am and 11.30am.

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The woman’s son was born at 12pm with the umbilical cord wrapped three times around his neck and showing signs of distress.

He was described as a “floppy baby” with an absent cry and required resuscitation.

Medical experts later confirmed the child had suffered hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), a brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation.

This resulted in the mother lodging a medical negligence claim against the Eastern Cape Health MEC with the high court, seeking damages.

High court trial

In the high court, the mother claimed that hospital staff failed to regularly check her blood sugar and blood pressure after she was admitted.

She also said they did not properly assess or manage her condition and failed to act in time to prevent complications that could have been avoided with proper care.

Dr Ebrahim, an obstetrician who testified as an expert witness, said that better monitoring could have picked up the signs of distress and possibly prevented the baby’s injury.

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At first, the MEC denied any negligence, claiming the brain damage was due to an “unknown sentinel event”.

But during the trial, which started in February 2020, the MEC admitted that hospital staff had not followed national guidelines for monitoring the foetal heart rate.

Despite this admission, the high court dismissed the mother’s claim.

The judge found that Sister Bonga, the nurse who assisted during the delivery, had provided adequate care.

The court also rejected Dr Ebrahim’s evidence, finding it “extremely confusing and not based on facts”.

SCA finds medical negligence

The SCA, however, came to a different conclusion in a recent ruling.

Judge Fikile Mokgohloa, supported by four other justices, said there was no dispute that the child was born with cerebral palsy.

Mokgohloa highlighted that there was uncontested evidence that there was an umbilical cord around the child’s neck.

The judge also found Sister Bonga’s evidence to be unreliable and contradicted by documentary evidence.

“She had no recollection of what happened to the patient except for what she recorded in the MCR and what she would normally do in the circumstance.

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“Curiously, she could recall that she got her finger under the cord and cut it, yet this was never recorded in any of the hospital records. How she remembered this remains a mystery.

“In my view, Sister Bonga was not an honest and trustworthy witness. Her evidence should have been rejected as being unreliable and not credible,” the judgment reads.

Mokgohloa concluded that the injury suffered by the child could have been avoided if healthcare workers had exercised proper care during delivery.

“The MEC’s employees failed to do so.”

She set aside the high court’s judgment and ordered the MEC to compensate her for her child’s damages.

 “The defendant is ordered to pay the plaintiff’s agreed or proven damages with costs,” the court concluded.