WATCH | ‘The nurses failed me’: Heartbroken woman on labour ordeal at Sebokeng hospital

“Seeing my lifeless baby lying there has hurt me badly. A piece of me died in that moment.”

These were the agonising words of Nokwanda Mokoena, whose yearned for journey to motherhood was shattered, not only by the premature labour and death of her baby, but by what she alleges was poor treatment by staff at Sebokeng Regional Hospital.

The 25-year-old was in her second trimester and expecting a boy when she experienced what the hospital described as an “inevitable miscarriage”.

Mokoena opened up about her ordeal in an interview with TimesLIVE Premium. She said it started on June 11 when she felt something was wrong. She rushed to the Sebokeng hospital, where she was advised to go in case of an emergency or over the weekend when her usual check-up clinic was closed.

“When I got there, I was checked by nurses and they told me my womb was open. They said they would admit me, so I waited for the doctor to arrive and have me admitted. The doctor came, did a check-up and a sonar which showed I was 24 weeks and five days pregnant.”

Mokoena said she was moved to the maternity ward. She was re-examined at 10am the next morning but this time in the presence of a senior clinician.

A debate ensued, according to Mokoena, on the course of action as her labour progressed rapidly.

“One doctor suggested giving me steroids to help the baby's lungs so when he comes out he can have a fighting chance. The senior doctor [apparently] said no and insisted on induced labour and said to let the baby be.

“I then spoke to one of the doctors who had checked on me and told him I had no medical issues and that my labour, to my knowledge, was progressing well enough for me to not induce labour because I wanted to give my child a fighting chance.”

It was at this point things turned sour for Mokoena, who claimed the doctor suggested discharging her given the choice she made.

She went on to detail her hours-long nightmare going through the labour process, allegedly without the help of hospital staff.

Mokoena said her cries for help and pain relief fell on deaf ears as nurses allegedly attended to other patients in the ward but not her, and at one point shouted at her for “making a noise”.

“At around 5pm, the labour pains reached an unbearable point and a nurse arrived in the ward and closed off my section with a curtain. I think they realised the pain was too much and the baby was on the way.

“I wasn't scared because in my mind I thought since I was at a hospital the nurses would try to help give my child a fighting chance. I also thought even if he doesn't survive, I'll know I tried and they tried too,” she said.

What followed over the next few hours left a scar unlikely to ever heal for Mokoena as she recounted her son's birth while she allegedly lay unassisted. 

“I cried out for help as the baby had come out but no one came. I called for more than 30 minutes and not one nurse came to help. I could hear them talking by the nurses' station. After 30 to 35 minutes, my cousin contacted the hospital and complained about the lack of care and threatened to report the hospital.

“That's when one nurse appeared. When she got there, she didn't check up on the baby but instead shouted at me for making a noise. I explained that I was crying for help but 'you guys ignored me'. By that time, the baby was still there between my legs. They hadn't cut his umbilical cord,” she tearfully recalled.

A video Mokoena took shows how she cried out for help with her newborn baby between her legs. She also explained her son's feeble attempts to breathe, with no one on hand to assist or provide support. 

After another 15 minutes a nurse returned with linen to cover the baby and cut his umbilical cord. He was then taken to the neonatal intensive care unit and she was told his chances of survival were slim.

Mokoena broke down when she recalled what happened next. 

“At that point, I thought what they wanted to happen, happened. After some time they came to tell me that he didn't make it”, she said.

“I felt the nurses had failed me so much. Even if they knew the baby wouldn't make it, they should've given me some hope and him a fighting chance, even if he would've survived for 20 minutes,” she said.

Her care improved afterwards, she said, after her family threatened the hospital. She said a matron came to speak to her to try to explain the procedure followed in cases such as hers. She was advised to lodge a complaint for investigation, which she did, and asked about funeral arrangements for her son. Mokoena opted to let the hospital bury the child as her hometown of Hazyview in Mpumalanga was too great a distance to do the burial there. She was also offered counselling before she was discharged.

Mokoena spoke joyfully of her short pregnancy, saying she was “happy beyond words” when she found out she was expecting her first child.

“It was a planned pregnancy, I had planned to have a baby at this age and I also planned with my partner.

“Everything was going well from the first trimester. I had support from my family and partner, so everything was going well. I did enjoy the journey,” she said.

She had even picked her baby's name, Ofentse, and was already dreaming of the many adventures she would share with her son. The only items left to buy were baby clothes, which she said she had planned to start buying at seven months.

Mokoena said everything was in order during her last scan, done soon before her admission to hospital.

Asked if she was told what caused her early labour, Mokoena said she was told it was a result of the baby being too heavy for her cervix as the pregnancy progressed.

Mokoena said she, her partner and family were all trying to be strong but it was hard.

“I'm trying to be strong for them, as much as they are trying to be strong for me.” 

She plans to sue the Gauteng department of health for the way her situation was handled at the Sebokeng hospital.

She said not only was there no clear explanation of what was happening to her, staff at the hospital failed in their care for her and her vulnerable baby during the traumatic birth.

“I'm not the first to go through this. So I'm fighting for my baby since they failed to give him a fighting chance, and other women in a similar situation. It's never easy to lose one of your own, especially a child. It's very painful and a never-ending trauma. I can go out and socialise but I will never be OK.”

TimesLIVE Premium reached out to a maternity expert to get an understanding of Mokoena's situation and how cases like hers are treated.

The midwife, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained a miscarriage usually occurred during the early stages of a pregnancy, and from 26 weeks a woman could go into early labour.

“The staff would check the baby's heart rate and whether you're having contractions or just bleeding. They then check the baby's weight, because it needs to be at least 800g to have a chance of surviving. If it's lower than that, the baby's chances of survival are very slim,” she explained.

At 24 weeks, the expert conceded the baby's chance of survival was slim. The best thing to do is monitor the situation and give the best care possible in those circumstances.

“It's important for every child to be given a chance. We can't decide to leave the situation as is. It's also important as a patient to make sure you understand what you're being told and that they've explained everything properly.

“In such situations, you'll sometimes find the patient is uncooperative because they don't understand why labour needs to be induced because perhaps it may have assisted in some way. For example, in women with high blood pressure you'll find the blood pressure is becoming uncontrollable and it's safer to deliver the baby. But they explain this to the mother,” she said.

The Gauteng department of health issued a brief statement on the issue, confirming it was aware of the matter.

“To establish facts and circumstances around this incident, the department has taken a decision to institute an independent investigation. Further details on the process will be communicated in due course.

“In the meantime, counselling and psychosocial support will be availed to the mother and affected family members. We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the mother and the entire family affected,” said spokesperson Motalatale Modiba.