Pretoria - After a healthy pregnancy, the last thing a 26-year-old Gauteng woman thought would happen when she gave birth was losing her womb - and nearly her life.
But when Naledi* was admitted to the Tshwane District Hospital on December 7 for her labour to be induced, she says it set in motion events that have left her irrevocably emotionally and physically damaged.
“When my baby didn’t arrive on her due date, I was admitted to the hospital’s ward 19. The doctor scanned my womb and said there was not enough water for the baby and I was to be induced.
“I was taken to the hospital’s ward 4 and was given oral medication (cytotec) at about 4pm. By the ninth dose of medication, I still couldn’t feel any pain and they said if I didn’t feel anything by the 12th shot, they would give me some space to rest and wait for labour,” Naledi said.
However, Naledi still felt no pain and doctors told her she was still only 1cm dilated.
Six hours later, Naledi began feeling some pain and told doctors who checked on her that she wished to have a caesarean at Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
During the evening of December 9, after her ninth dose of induction medication that day, Naledi said things took a turn for the worse.
“I kept telling the nurses I was in so much pain. One said: Don’t tell me stories, and started calling me Steve Biko because I wanted to be taken there. Another nurse said: This girl is going to give us headaches every time we check on her.”
“Eventually, the nurses noticed something wrong with the heartbeat of the baby and I had begun urinating blood, so they put a catheter on me,” Naledi continued, her voice trembling.
An ambulance was called to take her to Steve Biko Hospital around 2am on December 10, and by the time she arrived, she said she had lost 4 litres of blood.
Despite being a Jehovah’s Witness, who forbid the practice of blood transfusions, doctors had to move to save her life bygiving her blood.
“At about 7 or 8am when I woke up, I was told they had done a c-section on me and a doctor was brought in to tell me they had taken out my womb. Another nurse said: Oh, I’m so sorry, Naledi.'
“They explained that they had inserted swabs inside me to stop the blood and would need to operate on me again and that they had to take the womb out because it was so sloppy because of what they did at Tshwane.”
She was in a state of shock when she was first told, but when she was discharged with her healthy baby girl and back home, it hit her.
“I cried uncontrollably. I mean, I won’t have any more kids,” she said incredulously.
Two specialists - one in the field of critical care and another a gynaecologist - both ruled out negligence, saying an “atonic uterus” was a common complication in childbirth.
An atonic uterus occurs when the uterus fails to contract, resulting in excessive bleeding.
“One needs to view the case in context: the uterus may not have contracted; you can bleed to death, and to save a mother’s life we’ll do anything. It (removal of womb) becomes a life-saving procedure. Every induction carries risk but I don’t think that’s the reason for her uterus becoming atonic,” said a senior Joburg gynaecologist, who asked not to be named.
Professor Guy Richards, academic head at the Division of Critical Care at Wits, also said he didn’t believe the length of the induction had anything to do with the atonic uterus.
Gauteng Health Department spokesman Steve Mabona confirmed that Naledi had been given oral medication cytotec according to the National Maternity Guidelines. On the second course (10 doses of cytotec), she developed foetal tachycardia (an abnormal increase of the baby’s heart rate) and didn’t receive her 11th dose as she had to be transferred.
“According to information at our disposal, there was no ill-treatment of the patient. She was attended and monitored and subsequently transferred to Steve Biko, accordingly,” Mabona said.
Regarding her being called “Steve Biko”, Mabona added: “Investigations of the nurses' behaviour has been launched and, as such, corrective measures will be taken should any misconduct be identified. We apologise to the patient and will further interact with her.”
* Not her real name; the woman asked to have her identity protected.
The Star
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