A Limpopo mother from whose pleas for help were dismissed when she went into labour, and whose baby was born and fell to the floor while she was forced to walk out of the labour ward, wants the nurse to be held responsible.
On 8 May, Karabo Magabe (30) started getting contractions and was taken to Dilokong Hospital, where the doctor told her she was experiencing false labour, and should be admitted to the antenatal care ward.
Magabe told Thomo Nkgadima from Health-e News that she refused, knowing she was ready to give birth. She was then taken to the labour ward, but when she cried for help, the nurses ignored her and continued saying she was having false labour pains. They then left her alone, unattended.
“I was in pain and bleeding, as my waters broke. I shouted for help, telling the nurses the baby was coming,” she recalls. “One nurse yelled at me and insulted me. Then she ordered me to stand up and follow her so she could help me deliver.”
Not knowing where she was going, Magabe says she followed the nurse out of the labour ward.
“My baby came out while I was in the passage. She fell, head-first, on to the floor in full view of nurses and other patients. I could see the umbilical cord was no longer attached.”
The newborn’s face was injured and her left eye was bruised. Magabe said the nurse shouted at her, saying: “Are you trying to kill your own child?”
The mother and her child were discharged the next day.
Magabe is grateful that her daughter survived and seems healthy, but she wants the nurse to be held accountable for her actions.
The Limpopo Department of Health says it’s aware of the incident.
“Management is busy with an inquiry to establish the facts so that proper and informed action can be taken. We will be able to comment … extensively once we have clear outcomes of the inquiry,” said department spokesperson Neil Shikwambana.
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