Family angered by hospital report on newborn’s death

Published Apr 21, 2021

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Cape Town – Elsies River mother Nerina Swartz feels she has been treated unfairly despite an investigation concluded by the provincial health department, after she had accused nursing staff of turning her and her newborn away for medical attention, with her baby later dying.

Swartz, 37, who gave birth at home on March 10, was rushed to hospital in a private vehicle after she said she waited for more than an hour for an ambulance. Her baby, born prematurely at 29 weeks, was still attached to the umbilical cord.

The baby died after Swartz was advised to instead seek medical assistance at Tygerberg Hospital after she arrived at her nearest medical facility, the Elsies River Community Healthcare Centre (CHC) and the health department opened an investigation.

According to the report seen by the family, concluding remarks by a senior specialist included that “if a severely premature baby is born outside of a facility (home/car etc), the intact survival is extremely poor”.

“It appears as if the parents presented to the CHC, not the Midwife Obstetric Unit (MOU), but a more humane response could have been to cut the cord, warm the baby and try an attempt at resuscitation, even though it would most likely have been futile and the baby would not have qualified for transfer to tertiary care.

“In retrospect, a more humane approach would have been to cut the cord and attempt resuscitation. However, the staff at that level would probably have been considering the need for speedily accessing a higher level of care,” the report notes.

Swartz said she was unhappy with the findings.

“I am not happy at all. It is like they want to cover up their negligence by not assisting me when I sought medical help. I know that my child was still alive when I arrived at (both) hospitals. I just want justice to prevail.

“It has been very hard coming to terms with the ordeal. I can’t eat or sleep and just don’t know how to go on. I don’t know who to talk to and there has been no support or counselling offered by the department,” said Swartz.

Provincial Health spokesperson Shimoney Regter said the department was cooperating with the South African Human Right Commission (SAHRC) and that department head Keith Cloete has discussed the matter with the commissioner, a monitor and the facility management team.

“Specialists have reviewed the circumstances around this unfortunate incident. The thorough investigation has now been concluded and the report is under review. Disciplinary and remedial action has been taken.

“The team has reached out to Swartz and have made numerous attempts to contact her, as well as contacting her husband. The team has committed to meeting with Swartz and will provide further support,” said Regter.

Community activist and SAHRC monitor Imraahn Mukaddam also said he was unhappy with the report.

“It is pathetic how this family has been treated. The report speaks almost as if ‘the child would have died anyway’ and that is not acceptable.

’’The family needs all the support they can get. We are still attending to the matter,” said Mukaddam.

Cape Times

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