Cape Town - A placenta, wrapped in gauze and stored in a fridge, could be the last remains of Nabeela Cassim’s stillborn son. But she cannot bury it because the afterbirth given to her by Groote Schuur’s laboratory was labelled with another woman’s name.
Not knowing whether the placenta belongs to her is the last straw in a traumatic ordeal for the 29-year-old Colorado Park would-be mother.
At the beginning of last month, Cassim’s son died inside her after his delivery was fatally postponed. His body was left inside her for two days before she gave birth naturally, sustaining severe injuries from the 3.5kg corpse.
It is the third child she has lost at Groote Schuur - the previous two with complications due to her diabetes.
Cassim sent the afterbirth for analysis to try to find answers, but when she collected it from the hospital last week, it bore the label of another patient’s name.
She was about to bury the afterbirth when her mother spotted the label with another woman’s name on it.
“How did her sticker get onto my afterbirth?” Cassim said. “It’s stuck on perfectly, not even crooked. It couldn’t have just jumped there on its own. It was put there.”
The stranger’s name on Cassim’s placenta has caused more trauma.
“I just want to know, does that placenta belong to me? I’m not sure if it’s mine, or hers, or somebody else’s.”
Cassim plans to approach a private laboratory to carry out DNA testing on the placenta to make sure it is hers.
“It’s part of our religion that we bury our afterbirth, whether it’s a normal birth or not. I can’t bury it in a Muslim graveyard if I don’t know who it belongs to.”
Spokeswoman for the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Kaamini Reddy said the placenta definitely belonged to Cassim.
“The NHLS would like to guarantee the patient that the correct placenta was returned to her and that she may submit the placenta to any private laboratory of her choice for testing, at no cost to her.
“The NHLS extend our sincere condolences to the patient during this time of bereavement.”
Cassim said she is still desperate for answers as to whether her child would have lived if it was delivered two weeks earlier – and what she could do differently next time.
She and her husband long to have children of their own, and are determined to try again.
“I love children too much. This could have been the one.”
She is dreading going back to Groote Schuur, but because of her diabetes, it is the only maternity centre that can care for her.
Groote Schuur and the Western Cape Health Department maintained that Cassim’s case had been handled according to protocol.
Spokeswoman Marika Champion said the hospital initiated a meeting on January 14 between Cassim and senior members of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology team.
“Great care was taken to explain to Miss Cassim the reasons for the past events and her proposed further follow-up care,” Champion said.
“The results of the test performed on the placenta were also discussed. She was referred to a support clinic and offered further counselling.”
Cape Argus