A mother’s worst nightmare became a reality at Steve Biko Academic Hospital when she found her two-week-old baby covered in feces, only to be told by a nurse, “You can clean it yourself.”
The shocking incident, involving a baby diagnosed with a rare birth defect, has sparked outrage, raising serious concerns about the state of care at the hospital.
Now, advocacy group Rea Thusa/We Help calls on national health authorities to take immediate action, as this marks the second reported case of neglect in the Government hospitals in Pretoria within just one week.
Nicole Mans said baby Cameron was born on August 26, weighing 2.3 kg, and was supposed to be delivered via C-section due to a condition known as gastroschisis, which was diagnosed at 20 weeks into the pregnancy.
“After I arrived at the hospital, I explained to the nurses our unique situation and that my son had gastroschisis. They started to prep me for a c-section with drips and a catheter.”
Mans said shortly thereafter, the doctor reportedly misread the file and denied the C-section request.
“Everything was removed and I was told to give birth normally even though I had explained everything to them. I was in labour for about 14 hours.”
Mans said she became hungry during the 14 hours and had something to eat when the doctor who previously diagnosed her son with gastroschisis came past and asked why she was eating when she was supposed to be going into the theatre for a c-section.
“I told the doctor that the other doctor denied the c-section, and immediately after that, they started prepping me again for a c-section. They had to redo the drips and caterer.”
Mans said the nurses treated her inhumanely as she was waiting to be taken to the theatre.
“At one stage, they instructed me to get out of bed; I was in active labour, and they told me to sit in a chair so that someone else could have my bed. Only after I threatened to report them to the medical board did they give me another bed.”
She added that her phone and belongings were taken from her, and Mans could not even phone the father of their baby to inform him of what was happening.
Mans said that just before she was taken to the theatre, her contractions became worse, and before she knew it, she was busy giving birth to her baby.
“I was struggling to push him out due to his organs, and at one point, the doctor told me that she was going to leave my baby to suffocate inside of me as I couldn’t push him out fast enough.”
An emotional Mans said she was treated with no dignity and the birthing was so traumatizing that she now needs to see a private specialist to repair the damage caused by the birthing.
Baby Cameron was immediately taken to the NICU.
Nicole had to give birth naturally and was allegedly told by a doctor after the birth that she was a negligent mother because she couldn’t keep her baby in until the c-section was done as normal birth is perilous for a baby with this condition.
“I was in complete shock when the doctor said this. After all that I had endured and I was told this.”
During a visitation on September 9, Mans found Cameron’s face, back, and hands covered in green feces.
Newborn baby with birth defect left in filth at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. Photo: Supplied
After noticing the feces, Nicole asked the nurse for help changing the bedding, but she was told to clean it herself. She’s now uncertain how long her baby had been lying in this condition.
The same nurse also allegedly refused to replace the baby’s oxygen tube, even though doctors had noted low oxygen levels.
“The minister of the National Department of Health (South Africa) and Gauteng Health Department South African Human Rights Commission must take note of this and keep people accountable.
“This is the second baby in less than a week that has suffered at the hands of those who are supposed to care of them when their mommies are not around,” advocacy group Rea Thusa/We Help Virginia Keppler said.
“We have started a back a buddy fund to try and raise funds to get Cameron into a private hospital.”
Steve Biko Academic Hospital’s spokesperson, Lovey Mogapi, said in keeping with the quality improvement process, the nurse-related factors were analyzed, and a programme has been put in place to address them and educate the nurses on the We Serve with a Smile campaign that they strive for daily and actively campaign every month.
“Steve Biko Academic Hospital always strives to be a center of tertiary excellence, to maintain what is good and immediately correct the wrong.
“We learned of this complaint two days ago. We immediately went to the mother that night through patient care and followed up with her daily as part of redress.
“She has expressed her satisfaction with the patient’s journey after the regrettable episode. She seemingly has expressed these sentiments to the media, which confirms that our intervention has been satisfactory.”
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