‘I begged nurses for help’

Woman who gave birth prematurely complains about her treatment in hospital

A NEW mom recounts crying, begging and grabbing nurses at the New Somerset West Hospital just minutes before giving birth to her son.

Roxanne Dehon was transferred to New Somerset from Vredenburg Hospital because she was in pre-term labour. Her son was delivered two months prematurely.

She said when she arrived at the hospital, she discovered there had been a mix-up with her booking. She waited up to three hours before being given a bed in the maternity ward.

On January 16, the day her son was born, Dehon said she was treated badly by nurses. She said that when she was getting severe contractions, the doctor ordered that she be given morphine. However, this was not done, she said.

“After the doctor left, my water broke and I told the nurse. The next nurse then ordered me to take my suitcase and walk all the way to the delivery room. I had already told them I was unable to walk properly and I could feel the baby was coming,” she said.

The new mum said she forced herself to walk to the labour ward with no nurse accompanying her, but was told to go back to the maternity ward.

“The nurses at the labour ward told me I couldn’t go in alone.

“They asked where the maternity nurse was and said that the maternity ward should bring me there. I told them I was sent there and they refused to let me in,” she said.

Dehon said after back-and-forth bickering between her and the labour ward nurses, she was eventually let in.

But her pain didn’t end there. “I felt that they didn’t want to help me,” she said.

“I had to walk and beg the nurses, crying, grabbing one’s arms before I could get help delivering my child. If I hadn’t begged, my baby would’ve ended up on the floor or on the bed with no one to catch him,” she said.

Dehon said she wasn’t given any pain medication, even after she tore and required stitching.

Provincial health spokesperson Mark van der Heever said the hospital’s management met the patient and her husband to discuss their concerns.

“The follow-up on the allegations found that the patient did walk a short distance from the antenatal ward on the third floor to the labour ward, which is also on the third floor.

“The patient did receive morphine – she even confirmed that she had nausea from the medication,” Van der Heever said.

“She also received local anaesthetic, as per normal practice.”

Van der Heever said the hospital would engage with the patient to identify the “rude” staff and would then address this aspect of the complaint.