Limpopo Health will have to cough up more than R4m in damages for a woman who was severely burned – and subsequently scarred – after a hot-water bottle was placed on her chest during childbirth at a government hospital.
The plaintiff, only identified as Miss M, approached the Limpopo High Court (Polokwane) claiming millions in damages from the Health MEC.
The court heard that she was so badly burnt she can no longer do strenuous work, and also suffers from depression and is highly self-conscious.
The plaintiff said the nurses who placed the hot-water bottle on her chest were negligent.
The MEC at first denied any liability for the injuries, but the department later had a change of heart and accepted 100% liability for what had happened, reports The Star.
The incident happened in May 2017, at Maphutha L Malatji Hospital in Phalaborwa where the woman was to give birth to her second child.
After a prolonged labour, the baby was delivered by by Caesarean section after a local anaesthetic was performed.
During the procedure, the patient complained of being cold, so a nurse put a hot-water bottle on her chest to warm her up.
When Miss M told staff her chest was sore from the hot-water bottle, nothing was done about it.
She only found out that her chest had been burned when a relative pointed it out later.
She stayed in hospital for three days, during which time the blisters from the burns were treated, and she was told not to breastfeed.
She returned to the hospital when her injuries worsened, and spent two months there.
At the time of the incident, she was working fulltime at a tavern: cooking, cleaning and selling liquor to patrons.
She testified she wanted to return to work after giving birth but could not because of the injuries. She also wanted to further her studies at a FET college, and do a course in human resources or marketing with the money her late father had put aside for her education.
However, she had to use that money to buy formula for her baby as she could not breastfeed because of her injuries.
Her mother, who died shortly after the baby’s birth, was willing to take care of her baby while she was studying.
After giving birth, Miss M did community work programmes, but experienced pain whenever she worked in a hot or warm environment.
A medical expert testified that her breasts caused her pain whenever she lies down because the breasts no longer fall naturally, and that they were permanently disfigured.
She is further psychologically affected by her inability to breastfeed her baby at the time, as her breasts were oozing pus. She considered this a missed bonding opportunity.
Judge Violet Semenya ordered the MEC to pay the woman R4.4m, which included compensation for further medical expenses, loss of earnings and general damages.
The Star PressReader article – Women awarded R4.4m in hot-water bottle case (Open access)
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