14 hours in labour woman dies

By Marvelous Moyo

MATABELELAND South provincial medical director, Dr Brian Abel Maponga, has dispatched a team to Manama Mission Hospital to investigate claims that a pregnant woman, 26, died in labour at the institution due to negligence by the hospital staff.

Progress Moyo of Nkalange area, Gwanda District who was expecting her second child, died after more than 14 hours in labour as nurses at the hospital are said to have ignored her during the critical period.

The Chronicle visited the late woman’s parents at their homestead in Nkalange on Sunday and they expressed disappointment over the alleged negligence by nurses who were on duty from the early hours of November 1.

Nurses at the hospital are alleged to have declined to attend to the woman for over 10 hours saying she would be attended to by a doctor, until she died.

Her family said when they complained to doctors over the alleged negligence after her death, they were told to report the matter to the police and they filed a report at Guyu Police Station.

Responding to emailed questions yesterday, Dr Maponga said reports are being compiled at the hospital to aid a team that would be sent there to probe the death.

“We’re sending a team to conduct a formal inquiry into the matter to help us determine the cause of death, and ascertain whether there was negligence or not. The teams on the ground are compiling reports to aid the investigation,” he said.

“Further to that, our overall aim is to ensure that we get to the bottom of this matter, to ensure that pregnant women and all other clients are safe from harmful practices at Manama Mission hospital and the rest of Matabeleland South Province.”

Moyo’s mother, Maria Dube struggled to hold back tears as she narrated the agony her daughter went through.

“I accompanied my daughter to Selonga clinic on October 13 because her time to deliver was nearing. We stayed at the clinic until October 31 around 8PM when she indicated that she had some labour pains.

“On seeing that the pregnancy could have some complications, MaMoyo a nurse at the clinic referred Progress to Manama Hospital and she accompanied us there and surrendered her to nurses at the hospital at around 2AM on November 1,” said Dube.

“Surprisingly, nurses at Manama never attended to my daughter the whole day. They said she was going to be attended to by the doctor at 6PM. As a troubled mother I kept checking on her but with no support from the medical staff.”

She said she kept checking on her daughter every now and then, with the hope of finding her having delivered but the painful process stretched up to midday with the medical staff still turning a blind eye to her.

Dube said at one time she asked for her daughter to be referred to Gwanda Provincial Hospital, but she was given a cold shoulder.

After going for hours in labour and her energy drained, Progress is said to have indicated to Dube that she no longer felt any movement in her womb.

The aggrieved Dube said the only help she got at the hospital was in bathing Progress at around 2PM when a hospital employee believed to be a general hand wearing a pink uniform, said Progress smelled bad.

“At around 5PM while I was holding her, I felt her losing her breath, tried to wake her up, but to no avail.

“She died while in my arms and that’s when the doctor finally arrived when she took her last breath, but it was too late,” she said.

Dube immediately left and went outside, leaving her daughter’s body lying on the bed.

“I’ll never be able to describe the pain I felt because of the way nurses neglected my daughter.

“Th e whole day she was neither treated nor checked by medical staff at a time she needed attention most until she died. I took her to hospital with hope she would be in safe hands but I was wrong,” she said.

“If only they had saved one life, either my daughter’s or the baby’s, I was going to be comforted but now I’ve lost both.”

Dube’s husband, James Moyo arrived at the hospital accompanied by their Councillor Enock De Souza on learning from his wife that Progress’ condition had deteriorated.

“We got no cooperation from the nurses who told me to get all the information I needed from my wife,” he said.

He said they reported the matter to Guyu Police Station and a postmortem suggested that when Progress died her unborn baby had already died.

“It was all a result of negligence by nurses. They didn’t take their work seriously and didn’t value the importance of life,” Moyo said.

He said police officers recorded statements from them and promised to come back to them on the way forward, but they haven’t heard from them ever since.

Moyo’s family said they wanted the medical staff at Manama hospital exposed so that no other pregnant woman or patient dies due to negligence by the medical staff .

“We doubt if the nurses could treat their relatives in that manner. Our child is gone but we don’t want others to face a similar situation,” said Khulu Moyo, the late woman’s grandfather.

Clr De Souza said there were other reports that had come to his attention concerning negligence at the hospital.

“The hospital is well equipped but lacks dedicated staff because it seems it has turned into a slaughter house for human beings.

“If they no longer want to serve our communities, they better leave because it’s possible that people sometimes die in circumstances that can be avoided. Manama should put its house in order to avoid unnecessary loss of lives,” said Clr De Souza.

Efforts to get a comment from Matabeleland South acting police spokesperson Sergeant Thabani Mkwananzi were fruitless. The Chronicle