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Ambulance late... baby dies
16/05/2007 16:10 - (SA)
Johannesburg - A newborn baby suffocated in its mother's amniotic sac after she waited five hours for an ambulance to arrive, The Herald Online reported on Wednesday.
Thobeka Makanjwa was admitted to Dora Nginza Hospital after her baby died on Monday morning.
The ambulance's arrival more than five hours after the first call has outraged the New Brighton community.
Thandeka Kuhlane, a relative of Makanjwa, said the baby had moved its little arms and legs around in the amniotic sac after Makanjwa had given birth.
An ambulance was called at about 09:00 when Makanjwa started to experience labour pains, Kuhlane said.
By noon, there was still no sign of an ambulance.
"When she gave birth, the baby was alive. It was lying in the amniotic sac for hours while we desperately phoned the emergency services again."
One of the metro's only two trained paramedics received the call for the first time before 15:00 when he happened to answer the phone in the control room.
On hearing of the woman's condition and realising that the woman and her baby were in grave danger, he rushed to the scene.
The paramedic arrived in Makanjwa's street at around 15:25, but was too late to save the baby.
- SAPA
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