The family of a premature baby who died at Rundu Intermediate Hospital plans to sue the government for compensation after nurses allegedly cut the infant during delivery.
The baby girl, which was two weeks old, was allegedly cut on the head during the labour process on 14 August when nurses were trying to expand the mother’s vagina due to a birth complication.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services confirmed the incident to The Namibian on Friday.
It, however, said the baby’s death is associated with prematurity complications and other conditions.
A senior medical officer yesterday confirmed the incident to The Namibian.
The officer, however, said this was not the cause of the baby’s death, refusing to provide further information on the matter as they were not in a position to do so.
The baby’s uncle, Johanness Lyevera (50), yesterday told The Namibian the family, including the baby’s mother, was informed of the wound three days after the birth only, and were denied seeing her.
“We will sue them. They have to pay. That was a future generation in our family, but they took her from us,” he said.
Photos which The Namibian has seen show a stitched up wound on the baby’s forehead.
Lyevera says the hospital’s nurses had to perform an episiotomy (surgical widening of the vagina) because the mother is only 18.
“They cut her because the baby wasn’t coming out and because they needed to attend to other pregnant women,” he said.
“We’re not happy about the wound.
They cannot cut our baby and not inform us immediately. That is wrong,” Lyevera said.
He said the family is consulting a lawyer on taking legal action.
Ministry spokesperson Walters Kamaya said counselling was provided to the baby’s mother and maternal grandfather the day after the baby’s birth and that her clinical condition, including the head wound, was part of the diagnosis discussed during the session.
He said a further multidisciplinary counselling session involving the mother and other family members was held on 20 August, during which the baby’s clinical condition was discussed again.
“The baby was delivered preterm and had serious complications with difficulty in breathing and was therefore admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.
This is a restricted area where strict infection prevention protocols have to be maintained,” Kamaya said.
He said the baby’s condition and cause of death were further discussed during counselling sessions with the mother and maternal grandfather on 28 August and with paternal family members on 1 September.
“The families expressed satisfaction with the proceedings and the explanation of the cause of death, which was not related to the scalp injury,” Kamaya said.
He said the ministry and the hospital are committed to transparent communication with patients and families, and extended the ministry’s condolences to the family.
The medical report of the case, which The Namibian has seen, states that the baby died from sepsis with septic shock due to infectious gastroenteritis or colitis, without a specific infectious agent identified.
The report also lists “hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy” of the newborn as a contributing condition and states that the baby was a preterm newborn born at 32 completed weeks of gestation.
It also identifies the cause of death as natural.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services’ patient charter, titled ‘Your Health, Our Concern’, provides for patients to receive clear, comprehensive and understandable information about their health.
It allows families to participate in decisions concerning a patient’s healthcare.
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