Nelisiwe Manqele and her family want justice for her daughter and the grandchildren they will never have the chance to raise.
“My daughter started experiencing pain when she was at school on February 25. I picked her up from school and took her straight to Far East Rand Hospital,” she explained.
The fifteen-year-old girl, who will not be named, was 25 weeks pregnant with twins.
“As soon as we got to the hospital her water broke, so I knew that she was in active labour,” said Manqele.
She claims that her daughter was attended by a nurse first and then a doctor who informed them that the teenager would be taken to the theatre to deliver the twins.
“He said that I could go home and they would call me once they were done with the surgery. He warned us that the babies may not survive because of a low body weight,” she said.
Not long after she left, Manqele said she received a call from her daughter asking her to check for messages on a social media platform.
“I logged on and I saw photos of a baby. I was shocked and I asked my daughter what was going on. She told me that she had given birth, and she was alone, that is how she could take the photo. I asked her where the nurses were, but no one was with her,” she explained.
Her terror grew after her daughter sent an even bloodier photo of the second baby.
“At that point she told me that a nurse had taken the first baby, and left her alone to give birth to the second child,” said Manqele.
In the photo, a baby can be seen lying in a pool of blood, with the umbilical cord still attached.
“She was scared because she could not even move from the bed. She did not know what to do with the baby,” she added.
The mother of the children said she kept nudging the newborn to cry.
“It was the only way for me to know that the child was alive. But after a while, the baby stopped crying. I just knew that something was wrong,” she said.
The mother claims that a nurse finally came after she was called by another patient in the ward.
“She held my baby by the leg and said that it was obvious that the baby died. Then she took the baby away,” she added.
Manqele rushed to the hospital to see for herself what had happened. When she arrived she questioned why her daughter was left unattended while she was in labour.
ALSO CHECK: Ekurhuleni bidders urged to stay vigilant against scams
“Initially they denied leaving her by herself, but how was she able to text us and send us photos if someone was there with her?” she said.
Manqele was then taken to the matron, who informed her that the babies would not have made it anyway because of the low birth weight. At the time they were told that the babies were 800 and 750 grams respectively.
“I was told that they could not release the bodies for burial, and if I tried to take them and the police found out, I would be arrested. I insisted on taking the babies. She then sent me to another department.
“They told me the same thing, and eventually I grew tired and signed the (incineration) forms that allowed them to keep the babies. I only asked to see them before I left, but they only showed me one child,” she explained.
Manqele was also told that the nurses who were on duty while her daughter was giving birth had left and that she should come back the next day.
ALSO CHECK: Street fun day encourages unity while educating the younger generation
“I want them to admit that they left me alone and that the children were alive when they were born,” said the children’s mother.
She also admitted that she has been traumatised by her birth experience. In response to the allegations, the Far East Rand Hospital acknowledged that the teenager was admitted to the hospital on the said date.
“She was in the gyne ward as she was 25 weeks pregnant with inevitable miscarriage. The first twin was delivered alive but in need of medical attention and was rushed to the premature unit where he died within 24 hours of birth, while the second twin was stillborn.
“Because of their weight, the bodies could not be released for burial,” explained Phumza Ntuthuka, the hospital’s communications officer.
The hospital also claims that the family was shown both babies.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Stay in the know. Download the Caxton Local News Network App here.