WHITE RIVER – The Department of Health claims that the woman who had to deliver her own baby in a bedpan at Themba Hospital, actually went there for an abortion. She strongly denies this and insists that she visited the hospital fearing a miscarriage.
On Tuesday Lowvelder reported on the 25-year-old who had gone to the hospital last Monday, 23 weeks pregnant. She had started bleeding and experienced severe cramps. She stayed overnight, but was apparently only given a sanitary pad and received no pain medication.
She later felt the baby’s foot protruding and was handed only a bedpan by one of the nurses. She delivered the baby and also had to undergo a scrape without any anaesthesia.
Spokesman Mr Dumisani Malamule, said the woman went to Themba for an abortion. “Medically it is a normal practice to give a bedpan to a woman who is aborting,” he said. “I went to the hospital because I needed help. I was in so much pain and wanted to see a doctor, I did not go for an abortion.” She recently bought baby clothes and was excited about becoming a mother.
Malamule added that the department was investigating.
