By Thandeka Moyo
BULAWAYO – Another inquest has been filed against Mpilo Central Hospital after a Bulawayo family lost a premature baby girl who was placed in an incubator before she died hours later.
This comes a few months after the same hospital made headlines when a Bulawayo man demanded to know the circumstances surrounding the death of his wife, Samantha Shingirai, who bled to death while giving birth.
A doctor and two midwives who narrated what transpired on the fateful day told a court that Shingirai’s life could have been saved if professional procedures had been followed as she was only operated on about eight hours after admission.
The fresh inquest involves Nobuhle Nkomo from Makokoba who gave birth to premature female twins in July last year.
Filing her application, Nkomo’s legal representative Dumisani Dube from Cheda and Partners Legal Practitioners said his client had her twin babies hospitalised for three weeks and all was well.
“On July 10 at 12noon, Nkomo went for routine breastfeeding and was shocked to find the infants now placed in an incubator. This was despite the fact that the twins never suffered or showed any signs of hypothermia,” said Dube.
Hypothermia is a potentially dangerous drop in body temperature, usually caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.
According to Dube, Nkomo helplessly watched her babies being roasted and crying in pain as a result of over-exposure to the heater.
“The children were all screaming in agony and had swollen hands. Their skin had changed to a charcoal black colour.
“Surprisingly, the nurse on duty advised my client that it was normal, but one of the twins was certified dead days later, while the other had her hand amputated.”
Dube said a year and a half had passed with no inquest and authorities at Mpilo had failed to explain how the child died.
Another Bulawayo family recently bemoaned the prevalent negligence and blamed Mpilo staffers after their three-week child died while receiving treatment at the hospital.
Simbarashe Murozvi and his wife Ratidzo said their son, Perez, died from complications arising from a mistake by the hospital’s medical personnel who were treating him for a kidney ailment.
It is understood that during the treatment process, a staffer at the hospital made a mistake resulting in the infant’s arm being amputated.
Health and Child Care Minister, Dr David Parirenyatwa said new born babies account for about 30 percent of deaths among children under the age of five and are therefore a high priority for the government if the country is to meet the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) deadline on reducing child deaths.
According to Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey, the maternal mortality rate has tripled from 283 deaths per 100,000 live births to 960 in recent years. Chronicle
