Bluff family grieve newborn’s death

THE only memory 18-year-old would-be mother, Nikita Elkington has of her child will be the heartbeat she heard on the monitor before the untimely death of newborn baby Ava Rose on Friday, 16 March.
The Bluff mother and her family are devastated over the death of the child they had prepared to welcome into the world.

 
They believe alleged mistreatment of the mother by the evening nursing staff at Wentworth Hospital is to blame for the baby’s fate. According to a medical report, baby Ava died of birth asphyxia, which is deprivation of oxygen to the baby during birth. However, the family does not accept this and has requested an autopsy to be done.

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“We want an investigation done because what happened in the delivery room was not right. My daughter suffered immense trauma throughout the whole birthing process until the moment the child came out. Firstly, the nurses were ill-equipped. They did not have basic tools such as a vacuum extractor or forceps to assist the baby out of the birth canal. Instead the nurses commented on how nice it would have such equipment and kept shouting at Nikita to push,” said Nikita’s mother, Irene.

Nikita felt something was wrong when she had difficulty pushing. “I begged them to send me to King Edward Hospital but they told me to not worry about King Edward and just push. I pushed so hard, I developed piles and messed myself but still they complained I wasn’t pushing. They had no patience and became irritated with me. I asked the nurse if my best friend could come in and hold my legs as they were shaking and becoming stiff from pushing. The nurse said ‘No, your friend can’t come in because you are not pushing properly’,” said Nikita.

 
After hours of pushing, having nurses take turns to push down on her stomach and after having an episiotomy, the baby emerged. “I could hear the doctor say the umbilical cord was around the baby’s neck. Then he told the nurses they don’t know how to do suction to help remove the baby. When my baby was born, I didn’t see her, all I saw was tufts of hair but the nurses took her away so fast, I got scared. I knew something bad had happened,” she cried.

Her best friend said she could hear the nurses shout ‘push harder!’ through the door.

When the nurse emerged from the labour ward, she asked about Nikita’s state. The nurse told her she was having a difficult labour but she was fine. “This put me slightly at ease. But soon after the birth, the doctor stopped me and said Nikita is okay but they have bad news. I was in shock and asked what is it? That’s when he said Ava did not make it as the cord was wrapped around her neck. I was devastated,” she said.

The baby had the cord wrapped around her neck and it is alleged the nurses cut it instead of unwrapping it. “They just told me she died. The nurses’ words to me were the cord was wrapped around her neck twice, too tight, and that’s why she died. I couldn’t believe it, I begged for them to allow me to see her. They brought my baby in a cot and placed her next to my bed. She looked so peaceful as if she was in a deep sleep. She did not look dead,” said Nikita.
Nikita laid in the bed in a pool of blood as she watched them take her baby away. They stitched her up but ran out of cotton. “I’m devastated and traumatised by the way I was treated. We reported this incident to the hospital board and the following week, we had a meeting with them but not the evening staff. The managers apologised. At the time of the birth, I was never examined only until I asked for one in the meeting did they do one,” she said.

KZN health department spokesman, Ncumisa Mafunda said pregnancy “brings with it joy as it signals the imminent arrival of a new member to the family”. “A different outcome is always painful and regrettable. Without prejudice, the department would like to pass its condolences to the family. Regarding the confidential clinical information and management of a patient who received healthcare at one of the department’s health facilities, the department is not at liberty to discuss this with a third party, including the media as this would be in violation of the law,” she said.
The department confirmed the next of kin underwent grief counselling on Monday, 19 March.