Post-natal nightmare at Stanger Hospital

Just 12 hours after giving birth by caesarean at Stanger provincial hospital, a Shaka’s Head woman claims nurses instructed her to clean her own blood off the floor and refused to help her walk to the bathroom, resulting in her passing out and splitting her head open.

Shaka’s Head resident Lane Sheriff told the Courier that while the couple had a medical aid, his wife could not go to a private hospital for the birth because they had joined the scheme after she fell pregnant.

Sheriff’s wife (who asked not to be named) had the caesarean section at around 11am on Thursday, November 19. That evening at 6pm she was told by the nurses to get out of bed and start moving around. ‘Ambulation’, as it is called, is a recognised light activity that helps with wound healing.

She said the three nurses in the ward refused to help her stand up even though she told them that she felt very weak, and kept falling backwards onto the bed. She eventually made it to a chair under her own steam.

At midnight, the nurses came around for another check-up and to change patients’ pads, used for soaking up blood. Still weak and in pain, Mrs Sheriff’s pad fell on the floor and spilled a pool of blood.

“I was told to go to the bathroom and clean myself up and to clean the mess I made on the floor,” she said.

Again the nurses refused to help her.

“I went to the bathroom alone and the next moment I woke up on the floor with blood running down my neck. I realised I had passed out and hit my head on something sharp,” she said.

Apparently the nurses insisted that she could not have passed out and must have slipped.

“I wanted to phone my husband but was told that there was no need to call him because the doctor would fix everything.”

She said the nurses made no effort to stop the bleeding, which continued for 20 minutes until the doctor arrived. She phoned her husband the next morning and told him what had happened.

Furious, Sheriff had his wife and baby son discharged and took them to the private care Ethekwini Hospital, where doctors immediately performed a head scan to check for internal bleeding.

Fortunately there was none. Such a scan was never performed at Stanger Hospital. A hospital report handed to Mr Sheriff when she was discharged stated she had sustained a four centimetre cut, with “minimal blood loss” and that she received stitches.

Before taking his wife and son out of Stanger Hospital, Sheriff followed hospital protocol and took his complaint to the hospital management.

Acting PRO Hingla Jokoo, who he said seemed unconcerned, told him to send her an email.

He did so, but has not received any response. The hospital has also not responded to questions from the Courier. A healthcare professional told the Courier that it was not healthy to start ambulation within six hours of a caesarean and patients had to be assisted at all times.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join us on BBM at 59015786
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.