The family of a woman, who gave birth inside a car at night after she was allegedly turned away from the Mapela Clinic outside Mokopane in Limpopo two weeks ago, are demanding recourse. It’s alleged that nurses refused to help 25-year-old Hellen Kekae – arguing there was power outage.
Kekae ended up giving birth in the back seat of a neighbour’s car with the help of her mother.
The baby boy is alive.
Kekae, who was feeling labour pains, was allegedly brought to the Mapela Clinic in a neighbour’s car on 11 June. She was accompanied by some relatives, including her mother.
Security officers informed them the 24-hour clinic was not operating due to load shedding.
Family spokesperson, Junior Mabusela, says nurses refused to attend to them due to the power outage and referred them to the George Masebe Hospital, several kilometres away. Mabusela alleges that an attempt to call an ambulance was also not made.
“Security officers opened for us and called the nurses. The nurses told us they don’t work when there is no electricity and there was nothing they could do to help. I asked them to at least check her or call an ambulance because according to their ante natal records, she was supposed to give birth at the clinic. We begged them for help and they said we behaved liked we were smart. They even refused to help her give birth using the car’s lights on the veranda,” says Mabusela.
Mabusela says Kekae is traumatised after giving birth at the back of the neighbour’s car and the family wants action taken against the nurses.
“We requested the driver to take us to the hospital, but it was too late and she delivered on the side of the road. We are concerned because the cold temperature affected the baby and the mother is traumatised by the ordeal. We are unhappy about the nurses’ conduct and disrespect. It was their duty to check the mother and call for an ambulance. It means they wouldn’t have cared if the baby had died,” he adds.
‘Nurses faced challenges’
Limpopo’s Health Department Spokesperson, Neil Shikwambana, says that the nurses were unable to assist Kekae or call an ambulance due to challenges caused by load shedding.
“Nurses there tried to connect with the ambulance services, unfortunately, they struggled due to network as well due to load shedding so they then advised a family that was transporting the lady to take her to the nearest hospital. This is an unfortunate incident that we think should not have happened.
However, we also want to advise pregnant women they should not progress themselves and wait until its late before they present to facilities because when you calculate, the probabilities is that if the ambulance was called and it was delayed by 30 to 40 minutes. She could have given birth there in the dark while waiting for an ambulance,” explains Shikwambana.
The family believes the incident could have been avoided if the nurses had shown the willingness to help.
In 2018, Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba publicly showered nurses at the Jane Furse Hospital, in Sekhukhune, who delivered nine healthy babies using cell phone lights. A storm had caused power outage and damaged the hospital’s generators.
