Mothers and volunteers care for tots

Baby Bontle slept in an incubator at Garden City Clinic yesterday as her mother, who asked not to be named, looked on.

For the first time in days, the mother smiled at her daughter, whose name means "beauty".

Bontle, less than a month old, is one of 80 babies moved from public hospitals to private ones on Wednesday night.

When paramedics arrived, they found mothers and babies - but very few medical staff, according to Netcare CEO Dr Richard Friedland.

"There were babies in ICU, with their mothers who hadn't slept in 48 hours. They said 'If we leave, our babies will die'," he said.

"The babies were crying, they hadn't been fed since 9am.

"Their nappies were dirty, they had soiled right through to the bedding. Had we gone there in the morning, there would have been a silent ward."

Bontle's mother described how she found her baby in ICU.

"Her drip was coming out and there was blood in it. She was crying and she was hungry," she said.

"I was very sad and worried because there were no nurses and doctors, only us mommies."

At the opposite end of the ward, Thandi Lepota kept a close eye on her 10-day-old son, Junior. She, too, had found her baby, who now weighs 1.2kg, unattended.

"I was very angry. My baby is young and knows nothing about a strike," Lepota said.

Friedland said the hospital had been inundated with donations, and volunteers assisting with the babies. In another ward, critical care assistant students had volunteered to look after premature babies who needed constant care.

The hospital has also arranged counselling for volunteers caring for the babies.

Two babies did not survive.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody. We should never as a country allow this to happen again. You can't make a point by hurting small children, the elderly or infirm," said Craig Grindell, general manager of operations at Netcare 911.

"It's crazy, not what you'd expect from people. I hope in my heart those people never intended for this to happen. But if someone blatantly got up and left, they shouldn't even be in the medical service."