Young woman gives birth outside Burgersfort Clinic

A street vendor had to assist a woman giving birth while she screamed for help at the local clinic.The incident happened on Tuesday October 11 at 06:45.

A video showing the woman giving birth went viral on social media platforms on Tuesday.

“She started to experience labour pains and screamed for help. Because it was a few minutes before the clinic opened, we asked for help from some of the nurses who had already arrived at the clinic, but they said we should wait till 07:00,” said eyewitnesses.

In June, the Limpopo MEC for health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, noted with concern some reports of women delivering babies outside healthcare facilities. This is a result of some of the clinics not operating 24 hours a day, leading to risking both the life of the mother and that of the newborn baby.

Ramathuba admitted that not all provincial clinics operated 24 hours a day.

“The department was in the process of activating our clinics to operate all hours. Unfortunately, Covid-19 affected this project negatively, leading us to regress, and the main reason for our failure to do so is staff shortages,” said Ramathuba.

“Whenever a woman starts to experience labour pains, she must not wait until they become worse. There is no woman who will deliver outside our facilities because there is no place in our province that you need 10 hours to reach.”The department appealed to every pregnant woman to attend antenatal visits, where they will be told the expected date of delivery. We want to work together with our communities to try to avert some of these negative incidents,” said Ramathuba.

Departmental spokesperson Neil Shikwambana  said, “Burgersfort Clinic is now a day clinic, though it used to operate 24 hours. The clinic has since stopped operating 24 hours two years ago because of high criminal elements who were threatening nurses during night shifts.

“While the department is working with the community and government stakeholders such as SAPS to solve the crime issues, community members are still advised to utilize nearby clinics for night emergencies.”