Cape Town – Joe Slovo resident Nosicelo Buswana has detailed her harrowing ordeal of giving birth to her son on the floor of her home after being “turned away” from the Vanguard Community Health Centre.
The 32-year-old reported to the clinic at about 10pm after experiencing contractions.
After being examined, she said nurses told her she was only 2cm dilated.
“I was told to walk to help bring on the labour, and I was fine with that and walked around.
“When the nurse who assisted me was leaving in the morning, around 6am, he said I was still at 2cm and I must wait for the morning staff to take care of me.”
At around 8am, she claims nurses told her there was nothing they could do for her and she must return home.
Provincial Department of Health spokesperson Natalie Watlington confirmed that Buswana was at the clinic in April.
“She was subsequently assessed and monitored over a nine-hour period. All clinical guidelines were followed and the diagnosis of active labour was not confirmed.
“The patient was further advised as to when to return, and discharged.”
Buswana, who works as a call centre agent, said she waited for hours to get a taxi to Joe Slovo as they were not running at full capacity due to lockdown regulations.
“They said I must come back when the contractions are stronger.
“Then, in the taxi the pains got worse, and when we arrived at our stop I was vomiting and getting very concerned.”
When she finally got home, she could feel the baby coming and asked her boyfriend to call for help.
“At 11am I gave birth by myself without any help.
“One of my neighbours who came said that when she came to the room the head was already out and she helped me lie on the floor to push out the baby.
“The ambulance came 10 minutes later and the baby was still on the floor and the cord still attached to me.
“The ambulance took me back to the hospital and they were very surprised when they asked me why I didn’t go to the doctor and I told them this clinic sent me back home.”
Buswana said she had lodged a complaint with the hospital on April 22 and the outcome on July 15 was that there was no wrongdoing on its part.
“I posted my story on Facebook and it seems like there are a lot of mothers who went through the same thing but didn’t take any steps. There is no way that what the hospital is doing is right,” she said.
Her baby is now three months old and healthy.
Cape Times