Yusuf Dadoo hospital responds to claims of negligence

There were two midwives attending to 24 patients.

Photo: Pixabay. For illustrative purposes.

Nearly a week after the breaking of a story about a woman who delivered her baby by herself and then sat with it between her legs for nearly 10 minutes before being attended to, Dr Yusuf Dadoo’s management has finally responded to the claims with what seems like a half-hearted apology, Krugersdorp News reports.

“The hospital apologised for her experience when she came to deliver,” said XJ Mgiba, complaints manager at the hospital.

She said that on Saturday, 24 March, Rachelle Grobler came into the labour ward while in labour. She claimed that when Grobler arrived, there were only two midwives on duty as one of the others had reported sick and the others were attending to other parts of the busy ward. She also said that the overtime recruit attempt had been unsuccessful.

“The total number of patients in the ward was 24 and four patients were waiting to be admitted. Grobler was one of them,” Mgiba said.

“While one of the midwives was busy with other patients, she heard a patient screaming from the bathroom and rushed to see what was going on. On arrival, she found Grobler in the toilet and assisted her to a bed where she could be examined. The examination revealed that she was ready to deliver. The midwife rushed for the delivery pack, and on her return, found that the baby’s head was already crowning. She assisted Grobler, who delivered a stillborn.”

Grobler’s account of giving birth was very different.

“I was given a bed to lie down on and continued having contractions. I recall the nurse saying if I wanted to deliver my baby, I must just do it by myself otherwise I must keep it in, because they were busy with other patients. Shortly thereafter, I gave birth. After 10 minutes or more with my baby between my legs, the sister came back with a tray of stuff. The nurse checked and confirmed that my baby was dead,” Grobler said.

Mgiba said Grobler refused to look at the baby and was cleaned up and made comfortable after the birth.

“The midwife then took the baby out for weighing in order to determine if the baby’s remains should be buried or incinerated. Because the labour ward is an emergency ward, the midwife could not come back to Grobler immediately – she had to attend to other patients who were also giving birth.

“At about 1pm, the midwife noticed that Grobler was not in her bed and her Antenatal Card containing her contact details was also missing. Security was called to check the entire ward, but she was not found. She was then reported to have absconded, and management was informed about the matter.”

Three days later, Grobler went back to the hospital to lay a verbal complaint. She was offered continued treatment in the form of counselling by a social worker and antibiotics to prevent infection, but she refused and said that her church would offer her counselling.

She was also informed that her baby’s weight was 880g, and that the baby’s remains had been incinerated.

“The hospital offered me therapy after the incident, but I refused because I felt the only thing they would try to do is cover their own behinds. My fiancé, the father of the baby, isn’t a person who shows emotion easily, but he broke down and cried more than I’ve ever seen him cry before,” said Grobler.

“They told me a nurse’s job is to prioritise the patients who are in labour and save the baby’s and mother’s lives. When I asked them why I wasn’t a priority even though I was in labour, they didn’t have any answers.”

Jack Bloom, a member of the provincial legislature and the DA Gauteng shadow member of the executive committee for health said he was gravely concerned about the increasing number of complaints he has received about poor service at this hospital.

“Upper management needs to intervene urgently to improve problematic staff attitudes. Staff and equipment shortages also need to be rectified,” said Bloom.