[UPDATE] Mom who delivered dead baby on her own left traumatised after baby is cremated
"My fiancé, the father of the baby, isn't a person who shows emotion easily, but he broke down and cried more than I've ever seen him cry before."
Rachelle Grobler, the woman who gave birth to her dead seven-month-old baby alone in hospital, has spoken out about the horrible experience.
On 24 March, at 29 weeks pregnant, Rachelle started experiencing cramping. She was taken to Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital at about 9.15am, and the emergency room staff sent her up to the maternity ward, but a few hours later, she sat with her dead newborn baby between her legs, waiting to be assisted.
“Before the birth, I went to the hospital for numerous consultations. The doctors didn’t explain much to me and most of the women who went for check-ups felt like they were being pushed through like cattle. The doctors did a scan, told me it was a boy and sent me on my way.”
For the next consultation, the hospital told her to go to Leratong Hospital, but she refused and was helped at Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital with the same inattentiveness as previously.
“I went to hospital earlier in March because I didn’t feel well. The doctors measured my blood pressure, gave me blood pressure regulating tablets and sent me home.”
Read the initial article here: Mom gives birth without doctor’s assistance – sits with dead baby between her legs for 10 minutes
“When the nurses told me my baby was born dead, I informed them that my daughter had felt him move the previous night and it wasn’t likely. In the report, the nurses wrote the baby was ‘delivered by a nurse’ but the nurse wasn’t on duty that day, and I couldn’t inquire.
“They told me a nurse’s job is to prioritise the patients who are in labour and save the baby’s and mother’s lives. When I asked them why I wasn’t a priority even though I was in labour, they didn’t have any answers.”
She signed the cremation forms and asked her fiancé to take her home. The baby weighed only 980 grams, making him under the weight limit to be buried, and he was cremated by the hospital.
“We didn’t want to hold a memorial service because we really didn’t have the money. I know God will take care of little Marcel until I can see him again, and that’s okay for me for now.
Also read: Mother and baby die due to lack of oxygen
“The hospital offered me therapy after the incident, but I refused because I felt the only thing they would try to do is cover their own behind. My fiancé, the father of the baby, isn’t a person who shows emotion easily, but he broke down and cried more than I’ve ever seen him cry before. He was so frustrated at not being able to go into the ward. I had to communicate with him via SMS the whole time and he was upset by the fact that the nurses didn’t help me.
“We’re broken. We want to sue to the hospital, but it’s a very emotional time for us and it’s a confusing process.”
The hospital has been contacted for comment, but no response has been received yet.
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