A local domestic worker, Dorcas Mehlomakhulu, has cemented many more years in her contract with the Weber family after the family praised her for assisting a woman to give birth on the side of the road on 23 October.
Tarrin Weber, Mehlomakhulu’s employer, saluted her worker for her selfless efforts to assist the pregnant woman whose waters broke in full view of the public on CR Swart Road in Roodepoort.
The 52-year-old domestic worker and mother of four showed the public that she was no stranger to labour pains and giving birth after she was called by passers-by to assist the pregnant woman, who was in urgent need of help.
“It was between 3.30pm and 4pm. I was getting airtime at a garage when someone came to me and told me I should get to the road and assist a woman giving birth,” she said.
Without any hesitation, Mehlomakhulu rushed to the scene. “When I got there, the woman was in serious labour. We started assisting with other ladies who had called for both government and private ambulance services,” she added.
Mehlomakhulu said the pressure began mounting for the pregnant as emergency services took some time to arrive at the scene. With her little knowledge about birth, she said she had to receive telephonic advice from paramedics in order to conduct a safe delivery.
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She said she could have assisted easily if it was a baby suffering from burn wounds or a high fever, because her employer had taken her to successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation courses.
“After the call, I was able to assist in the delivery of the baby. Since the woman delivered the baby on the grass, we were advised to use a blanket or jacket to prevent the baby falling on the grass. Paramedics then said I must wipe the baby’s mouth and wrap it around with a blanket to make sure that it stayed warm,” she explained, adding that they were warned not to cut anything from the baby’s body.
Mehlomakhulu said she waited until the arrival of ambulance services to check on the mother and the baby. “We stayed until the arrival of the ambulance. A doctor also came out to check on the baby and mother.”
Denver Ramnarain from QRS told Northsider that the baby and mother were assessed and found to be fine. He added that a second assessment was also conducted by a local private doctor at the scene.
After the assessment, Ramnarain mentioned that a government ambulance arrived and took both patients to a nearby hospital.
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The domestic worker said she heaved a sigh of relief after learning that the baby was fine because her biggest worry was the language barrier during delivery.
“I was so glad that the baby was fine. I was really concerned about the baby’s health because the lady spoke a different language to us at the scene,” she indicated.
Mehlomakhulu said the woman is a Zimbabwean national, currently residing in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg.
After the mother and the baby were transported to a hospital, the domestic said they started joking around about the name of the baby. She said she would have liked the mother to have called the baby Tebogo, while other ladies said Blessing was a suitable name.
Mehlomakhulu has received heaps of praise from the community following the incident.
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