LIMPOPO – The Department of Health said they sent a team to investigate an incident of a woman who delivered a baby at the gate of the Burgersfort Clinic this morning (October 11).
A video circulating on social media shows several women with blankets and throws surrounding and concealing the woman and the child to protect them from onlookers.
The video also shows a nurse outside the gate with medical paraphernalia to assist the young woman, who tells the women that they are not to “make noise” because she told them the clinic only opens at 07:00.
When the group tells her that it is an emergency and asks her to assist, the nurse replies and says no woman has contractions and gives birth immediately.
In Burgersfort (Fetakgomo-Tubatse Manucipality), a woman gave birth at the clinic gate because the clinic only opens at 7am.@Julius_S_Malema @EFFSouthAfrica @EFF_Limpopo @MTshwaku pic.twitter.com/N56rSTVeRK
— Son of Mama Winnie (@WinasM) October 11, 2022
Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said the Burgersfort Clinic is now a day clinic and does not operate 24-hours a day anymore.
“The clinic stopped operating for 24-hours two years ago because of threats to nurses who worked night shifts. While the department is working with the community and the police to solve issues such as crime, the community is advised to utilise nearby clinics for night emergencies,” he said.
Shikwambana said the woman delivered 15 minutes after arrival at the gate to the clinic and advised pregnant women to not to wait until they are about to deliver before visiting a health facility.
“It takes between eight to 16 hours for a woman to deliver a child from the onset of labor pains, depending on the number of children a woman has already delivered. We encourage pregnant women to visit health facilities for antenatal consultations during pregnancy as it is during these sessions that they are made aware of facilities they can deliver at in line with the department’s maternal health standards,” he said.
Shikwambana also added that the department’s employees are encouraged at all times to ensure that women deliver babies in an environment that is not only safe but dignified.
“The department has a constitutional and service obligation to enforce these protocols and will act decisively with any of its employees who are found to have impeded it to fulfill this obligation.”
He called on the Burgersfort community to be calm and give the investigation process a chance.
