Carenvale’s own Mrs Delivery
Denise Noortman had never undergone natural birth herself, but when her neighbour's domestic worker went into labour a month early, she knew she had to help, despite not knowing what she would do.
Daring to stride outside of a comfort zone is a challenge on its own, but when it means the difference between life and death, there is no choice.
Denise Noortman is a Carenvale resident who has worked in the scrap business for years, with a few small side jobs to keep her busy. She has never really had a set time that she gets home, often only walking through the doors of her house in the late evening, but on 15 April, the fact that she came home early may have saved two lives. She walked through her doors just after 3pm and after settling in, she told her long-time domestic worker who is more like family (Martha Ncube) that she could go home.
Martha told Denise that before she left, she just wanted to wash the carpets, but she never got around to doing that because of the screams coming from next door. Denise’s neighbour, Rita Ganas, was shouting for Martha – calling for help because Rita’s domestic worker, Faith Wylson Friday, had gone into labour nearly a month early.
The -year-old Faith had scheduled her C-section for 22 May and could not undergo natural birth due to complications that may have arisen because she had had two C-sections in the past. Now, her water had broken a month early, leaving not only her life in danger, but that of her expected baby girl. Martha and Denise raced next door to find Faith on the couch covered in towels and blankets.
Everyone’s initial thought was to rush Faith to the hospital, but a quick look at how far she was dilated showed that they would not have gotten to the hospital on time. Immediately, an ambulance was called, and the operator on the other side advised that it was on its way, and if anything happened, she would guide them through what to do. However, it was not one minute after the call began that the baby crowned. “I was hysterical. I am in the scrap business and I have never given birth naturally, so I had no idea what to do,” recalled Denise.
She advised Faith to lie down and almost immediately, the baby’s head appeared. Forgetting about the woman on the phone, Denise began to freak out, wondering when the ambulance was going to get there. “All I could think about was, what if the umbilical chord is around her neck, what if something goes wrong?” Denise continued. Suddenly, a wave of calmness washed over her. Denise crouched next to Faith, ready to help with whatever she needed.
Rita’s son, Cayman, and Martha were running up and down fetching towels, water, and whatever else was needed while Rita massaged Faith’s stomach and Denise encouraged her to push. Within a matter of minutes, the baby was born, its 3kg body in Denise’s hands. Despite its large size for being a premature baby, the biggest shock was that the baby was a boy when Faith was told she would have a girl. The initial gender shock quickly died down and Cayman ran to fetch a wet cloth so Denise could wipe the baby’s nose and mouth, removing any mucus that may have been left there. Still not cutting the umbilical chord, the baby boy was passed to an emotional Faith.
However, they weren’t out of the woods. Just as everyone was wondering why the newborn hadn’t started crying, Denise heard the baby gargling and choking, so she immediately wiped his nose and cleaned his mouth again until the little boy released his first cry. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later, and the medics cut the umbilical chord and took Faith and her baby to hospital where they were stabilised.
Initially, Faith was going to name her child after Rita, but since the newborn was a boy, she opted to name him Cayman Reece – Reece being a combination of both Rita and Denise’s names.
