By Fatima Schroeder
A Hout Bay woman is suing the Western Cape Health MEC for R14,9-million after complications during childbirth at Groote Schuur Hospital left one of her twins dead and the other paralysed for life.
Court papers filed at the Cape High Court have revealed that the surviving twin, Xaiden, now aged three, will never be able to walk, speak properly, feed himself or attend to his personal hygiene.
He will also never be able to work and earn an income and will need to have 24-hour assistance from professional caregivers, the papers reveal.
Out of the R14,9m, R11,8m was for future medical expenses, including a paediatrician, a neurosurgeon, an orthopaedic surgeon, periodic radiography, periodic admission to hospital, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and the services of a social worker.
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According to papers filed at the High Court, the mother, Tania van Rooyen, 24, discovered that she had a mono-amniotic and mono-chorionic twin pregnancy, commonly known as momo twins.
This means the foetuses shared the same amniotic sac and same placenta.
She was admitted to the hospital on August 4, 2006 and by 10pm her cervix was fully dilated.
Van Rooyen alleges that by midnight, medical and nursing personnel told her to push.
This process was eventually abandoned and hours later, an abdominal ultrasound was performed which prompted staff to decide that a caesarean section birth was necessary.
She was admitted to theatre and a caesarean section was performed.
But the twins were found to be interlocked.
Van Rooyen alleges in the papers that the staff attempted to force the delivery of one of the twins through vacuum extraction and forceps, leading to the death of that foetus.
In addition, she says that they did not take her to theatre immediately to preserve the life of the other foetus and to avoid any injury to Xaiden.
One of the twins was delivered stillborn and the other suffered severe hypoxia (a deprivation of oxygen).
He required immediate resuscitation and is now permanently disabled due to cerebral palsy.
Van Rooyen alleges that the hospital should have made her a high risk patient and advised her of the risks involved in delivering momo twins.
She added that staff had failed to monitor the labour appropriately and to diagnose the interlocking of the twins
They also failed to monitor the foetal heart rates and maternal contractions and to react to the signs of foetal distress.
She claims that the hospital failed to provide her with the requisite medical, surgical, nursing and midwifery services.
However, the MEC has denied the allegations of negligence and filed responding papers last week.
He said in the papers that staff had determined that Van Rooyen had a twin pregnancy with a single placenta.
However, the MEC alleges that it had never been confirmed beyond doubt that it was a momo pregnancy.
He said a vacuum extraction had been unsuccessful.
A vaginal examination showed that Xaiden's head was stuck under the chin of the other twin.
He said there was no excessive force used during the vacuum procedure and confirmed that the twins were interlocked and that one was stillborn.
The MEC added that hospital staff had a full appreciation for the fact that Van Rooyen was a high risk patient, and that repeated ultrasound examinations were performed to ensure foetal wellbeing.
He said Van Rooyen had been "more than adequately monitored" and that nothing had been done which an experienced gynaecologist could have done differently.
A date has not yet been set for the case.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on September 07, 2009
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