Pretoria - The grim tale of a newborn baby, apparently stuffed into a clothing locker as nurses thought it was dead, has resulted in the Limpopo MEC for Health agreeing to pay R70 000 damages to the mother.
It emerged a day later that the baby was still alive. Sarah Ngaletsane Ngobeni, 35, of Matshwi Village in Bolobedu, claimed R225 000 in damages in the North Gauteng High Court after her baby’s death.
The infant (the gender is not known) was still alive after it was discovered in the locker, but died a few hours later, the mother said in court papers.
The Health MEC denied any negligence by Kgapane Hospital nursing staff. Defending the damages claim, it was said the mother was given “full medical attention and care” during delivery, but she “unfortunately gave birth to a stillborn baby”. It was vehemently denied that the child was stuffed in a locker and the MEC said the mother had to prove this.
The MEC said the mother suffered from a “terminal illness” which caused complications during birth. The health authorities indicated it would defend the action, but the matter never went to trial as the MEC reached an agreement with the mother to pay her R70 000.
Pretoria Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba made the settlement an order of court.
The mother had a totally different story to tell. She said in court documents she was rushed to hospital on May 3, 2011, while she was six months’ pregnant. She went into labour two days later, experiencing severe pain. She was left in her room and gave birth all by herself. She called the sister, but the staff only checked on her about 30 minutes later. Ngobeni said they picked up the baby from the bed and told each other the child was dead.
“The nurse put the ‘dead baby’ in a clothing locker in the room, without allowing me to see the child.” The mother said she was at that stage unable to rise from her bed.
Ngobeni said she overheard people saying her baby was dead, but no one told her so directly. A nurse came to the room the next day and opened the locker. Ngobeni said she indicated to the nurse that the baby appeared to still be alive. “The nurses only at this stage cut the umbilical cord, before taking the baby to the maternity ward’s incubator.”
The baby subsequently died.
Ngobeni said she later decided to seek legal help and wanted to obtain the baby’s file at hospital. She was told the file had gone missing.
She instituted legal proceedings on the grounds that she and the infant had received sub-standard care from the nursing staff. She said she suffered emotional shock and trauma during her stay in hospital and still suffers from these emotions owing to the events at the hospital.
A medical report issued to the court confirmed that she was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and recommends she undergoes long-term counselling. Ngobeni blames the hospital for her condition, saying the staff were negligent in that they did not assist her when she went into premature labour. She said they stuffed it into a locker, instead of an incubator.
Pretoria News