Johannesburg - After shocking revelations that nearly 400 babies died at a Gauteng hospital last year, further claims of alleged negligence surfaced when a new mother described how she was “left unattended” in the labour ward, with a ruptured membrane.
Veaan Crawford said on Tuesday that carelessness and negligence had led to her baby, Abdul Malik Crawford, dying on July 26 2019 at Joburg’s Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, where 385 patients died due to alleged negligence in 2018, according to Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku.
Veaan, 23, said she arrived at the Rahima Moosa Hospital on July 11, with a ruptured membrane. She said she was made to wait “in a pool of water, with liquid leaking from my vagina like a tap”, before giving birth prematurely eight days later.
At 30 weeks, Veaan’s baby was 10 weeks premature. She said she eventually gave birth on July 19, under unbearable conditions in a packed labour ward, with women who were there to be induced.
“I was in excruciating pain, with no one assisting me.
“At 8.25pm, my contractions were unbearable and I felt my baby pushing - I was screaming and screaming, but there was no response.
“By the time the nurse got to me, my son was half way out, and the nurse just said: ‘What now?’
“I said she should examine the birth canal. She went to get gloves and told me my baby was coming.
“I gave birth right there in the induction ward, which was icy cold,” Veaan said. Malik Abdul was wrapped in a sheet and taken to ward 16 in the hospital, she said.
“Only about 20 minutes later did a doctor arrive to ask for my consent to put the baby on a respirator.
“My baby was born with difficulties - he was an emergency case, and they should’ve put him on oxygen immediately,” Veaan said, holding back her tears.
A video clip showed baby Abdul Malik with tubes, and breathing heavily. He was clearly in severe distress, and he was blue.
Veaan said she notified the doctors of her baby’s erratic breathing, but was told he would be fine.
But on July 25, baby Abdul Malik was sent to the neo-natal intensive care unit, where her parents had to switch off his life support the next day.
“I was told he was sent to ICU, because his breathing was irregular. But that was exactly what I had told the doctors the previous day.”
Last week, The Star reported that Tamminique Crawford, who is Veaan’s cousin, also lost her son due to staff negligence at Rahima Moosa Hospital in August, after a botched caesarean-section, which damaged her uterus and left her unable to bear more children.
MEC Masuku said in October that of the 2307 babies who “negligently died at Gauteng hospitals in 2018, 385 were at Rahima Moosa Hospital".
Gauteng health spokesperson Philani Mhlungu said Veaan was treated “with internationally accepted standards” to prevent her premature delivery before 34 weeks.
Mhlungu said, however, that Veaan delivered a “very low-birth weight” baby prematurely.
“The baby developed a common complication of respiratory distress syndrome and was treated according to internationally accepted standards and norms. Efforts to wean the baby from a ventilator failed. The baby developed a complication and was resuscitated, but didn’t recover.
“There was no negligence on the part of the hospital, and the patient was fully informed of the baby’s condition,” Mhlungu said.
But Veaan disputed that her baby son’s illness was explained to her, stressing that she was the one who alerted the medical staff.