Labour nightmare for E Cape women

Pregnant women in the Eastern Cape often have to buy nurses gifts - including lunches of fried chicken - to receive medical attention.

This is one of the shocking allegations contained in a Human Rights Watch report entitled Stop Making Excuses: Accountability for Maternal Health Care in South Africa, which was released on the eve of Women's Day.

Research was conducted between August 2010 and April 2011 and included interviews with 157 women who had received maternal healthcare at state hospitals and clinics in the Eastern Cape.

Women relayed how, during labour, they were physically and verbally abused. Some said workers pinched and slapped them. Others recalled how their cries for help were ignored for hours.

Asanda Fongqo, spokesman for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA, said: "We will issue an official response [today] after studying the report."

The Eastern Cape had the highest increase in maternal deaths between 2001 and 2007.

The report found that many women, especially refugees, had to produce gifts "and in some cases the workers directly asked for 'cool drink' money [the local term for bribes]".

One woman said: "I was admitted . for a Caesarean delivery in 2008. I was ordered [by the nurses] to call my husband to bring money so that I can be given medication. I called him; he did not bring money but he brought the KFC and that is when I got medicine. He bought lunch for three nurses."

Others were ill treated.

"The nurse pinched me really hard on the thighs. She said 'it was very good when you were making the baby. Open up'," said another.

HIV-positive women said nurses publicly ridiculed them for falling pregnant. "I was in labour and in pain but the nurse abused me about my status saying, 'you are positive and did not use condoms'.

"People are listening. It is very humiliating," she said.

One of the more horrific tales came from a woman identified only as Abeba M, an Ethiopian refugee.

"A lady and her baby died in our ward. I did not think I would survive. Later, another woman suffering from high blood pressure also died. I thought I was next. I was so sick. I had blurred vision. When the second lady died, the nurse asked me, 'Oh, you are still alive?' and the doctor said, 'That lady is dead? Who is next?'," said Abeba.

"I had to feed the baby every two hours, so I kept walking day and night. I was bleeding.

"The nurse shouted at me as if I had done it deliberately, and told me to get a mop and clean the blood . They did not let me use the mop. I had to bend so I could use tissue to wipe it, and then use the mop."

The report called for accountability.

"The government admits that it has a big problem on its hands and wants to do better. But for all South Africa's good intentions, policies and strategies on paper won't save women's lives without strong accountability systems to make sure policies are carried out," said Human Rights Watch women's rights researcher Agnes Odhiambo.