Woman forced to give birth outside clinic

An eyewitness, Gabisile Sibeko, said she and a colleague were on their way home at about 4:30pm when they saw a crowd of people gathered in the street, Alex News reported.

“We found an elderly street vendor [performing] the midwifery role, and me and my colleague also joined in and assisted,” she said.

According to Sibeko, the pregnant woman, Aseuc Aleja, said she had been turned away by nurses at Alexandra Clinic because she had registered at Edenvale General Hospital. This despite the Aleja telling them it was an emergency, and that she would not make it to the hospital.

Sibeko said an ambulance was called while they assisted with the birth, after which Aleja reportedly passed out. Both her and the baby were then taken by ambulance and returned to Alexandra Clinic.

“I am so disappointed at the behaviour of the concerned nurses who chased the woman away. How do you do that? If she was registered in a hospital in her country or in Durban, for that matter, would they have told her to fly back home or to Durban?” Sibeko said.

However, Aleja said she had been treated well after her return to the clinic with her daughter.

“The nurses never apologised for earlier chasing me away, but they spoke at length with the woman who brought me in after giving birth, but I never got to hear what they were talking about,” she added.

The clinic’s administration manager Yvonne Lefakane could not confirm the incident with The Citizen, but said an investigation would be launched immediately.

– Caxton News Service