Mother spends nine hours with stillborn twins attached to her
She had wait nine hours to go to theatre, with the foetuses still attached to her and the placenta still intact.
MBOMBELA – While coming to terms with the pain of losing her stillborn twins last Wednesday, a young mother had to wait nine hours to go to theatre, with the foetuses still attached to her and the placenta still intact.
Traumatised, and lying in a pool of her own blood, she said she was told to wait, because there was no clean linen in the theatre.
She said, “I was five months pregnant, but unfortunately I gave birth prematurely and nothing could be done to save my angels – I do not blame anyone for that. What makes me angry is the treatment I received at the so-called tertiary institution, Rob Ferreira Hospital.
I went there earlier that Wednesday since I was experiencing severe pain. I was checked and told that it was just a threatening miscarriage. At home the pain started again that night and I knew I had to rush to the hospital again.
“When I got there around 23:00, I was in extreme pain and all the nurse wanted when I got there was for me to get a file first. I told her the pain was unbearable and I needed urgent help, but she insisted on the file until I asked her to call her manager.
“When the doctor came, she realised that I had to be rushed to the emergency ward because I was in labour. There I gave birth and sadly the babies did not make it. The placenta was still inside and I was told that surgery would have to be performed to remove it.
“What I went through that day was the worst trauma – I don’t wish it on anyone. For nine whole hours I had to sit with my twins still attached to me, not even covered, in the same dress I wore when I arrived, soaked in blood. I was afraid I was going to bleed to death.”
She said she and nine other patients were told there was no clean linen in theatre and they were waiting for a company from Barberton to deliver it.
“I did not understand why they had to make a fuss about linen and I even offered to send someone to buy some from the shops. But they said they could use only the sterile hospital sheets.”
This publication asked the health department why all the linen had to be sent for washing, with nothing left for emergency cases and spokesperson, Mr Ronnie Masilela replied, “Our linen is washed at Barberton and Themba hospitals and not by a private company.
We have a storeroom here at Robs where we keep linen and there is no way the hospital could have run out of it. We will investigate the matter.”
