PILGRIM’S REST – The trauma she had experienced when her baby suffocated in her birthing canal on Christmas Day 2012 still lingers for
Ms Goodness Mosoma (27). After a full-term pregnancy, this first-time mother had decided to give birth at the Matibidi Hospital where, at the hands of a nurse, she allegedly endured physical and verbal abuse, and was even forced to mop up her own vomit while in labour.
When Lowvelder first reported about the case in January, Mosoma had described how she had suffered four hours of unbearable pain, amid the continued abuse from the nurse, before a doctor was called to
assist her.
He immediately summoned an ambulance to transport her to Themba Hospital, a two-hour drive away, where the dead baby was finally delivered.
The cause of death was indicated as asphyxiation.
As the anniversary of this fateful day loomed, Mosoma expressed her anger that the Mpumalanga Department of Health had not progressed with its investigation and that the nurse still worked at the hospital, albeit in a different ward. “It is difficult,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. And she was angry.
Still angry about the way she was treated and the fact that an otherwise healthy baby boy never lived. She was also becoming increasingly troubled and emotional as Christmas approaches, she admitted.
Asked whether she considered having another child, she responded, “No, I am too scared to have a baby.” She was promised counselling by the department at the beginning of 2013.
This had not happened.
Last week Lowvelder directed a query to it regarding the progress of the investigation.
Mosoma had last been contacted by a departmental official in March.
She was also informed by her legal-aid attorney that she could basically “forget about winning a case such as this”.
Undeterred, however, this shy and withdrawn woman travelled to White River a couple of months ago and appointed her own attorney to pursue a civil case against the department.
The firm had not given feedback on the progress of this case at the time of going to press.
Mosoma was informed by her attorney that it could take up to four years for it to conclude.
