Woman forced to give birth outside clinic after guard allegedly denies her entry
She was forced to give birth at the clinic gates after allegedly being told there were no nurses at the facility
LIMPOPO – Access to proper health care at the Leeuwfontein Clinic outside Marble Hall has once again come under fire by residents in the area.
Residents complained that the 24-hour health facility was not satisfactorily attending to needs of those seeking health services.
The latest incident comes after a woman in the area had to give birth at the clinic’s gates in the early hours of the morning about a week ago.
According to the woman’s family she was refused entry into the facility in the cold weather when she sought help.
The family further worried that the 39-year-old woman’s son, who was with his father, saw his mother being assisted to deliver the baby at the gates.
Refiloe Selala, the woman’s niece, said the woman’s husband had to help his wife give birth in the cold.
Selala said the husband had phoned them as he tried to find help on how to cut the umbilical cord.
“He sought help from my grandmother over the phone as he helped my aunt give birth at the gates after they were refused entry into the clinic.
“The security guard at the gates provided him a pair of scissors and water to see through the process while his son was watching,” said Selala.
Selala said they were angered by the incident and when they investigated why their aunt was refused entry, security guards told them there were no nurses at the facility at the time.
“We knew he was lying because when we checked from the fence into the back rooms of the clinic, we could detect there were people there,” worried Selala.
The family said they then took the 39-year-old woman home after the ambulance took hours to arrive.
Selala said their aunt’s condition deteriorated following the delivery of the baby and they thought it better to get her home from the cold.
She said the aunt was later taken to the local hospital with the baby, when the ambulance finally arrived.
Attempts to get comment from the Department of Health were not successful at the time of publishing.
Spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said he was in a meeting at the time.
