Baby was already dead - hospital
2009-11-24 08:24
Klerksdorp - The management of Klerksdorp hospital on Monday insisted that baby Lemeel was already dead when Faiza Booysen went into labour last week.
This is why his head and arms came off while doctors and nursing staff were assisting Booysen with the delivery, the hospital said in response to questions.
Booysen believes her baby was still alive when she went into labour on Monday last week. The nursing staff told her, among other things, to "push, because the baby's getting tired".
Lemeel was an exceptionally large baby, and weighed 4.7kg at birth. For that reason, a caesarean section was scheduled for Wednesday November 18.
No heartbeat
In spite of that, Booysen was given an induction to cause her to go into normal labour, after medical staff apparently discovered that the baby was dead.
According to the hospital, this diagnosis was based on a scan, after which a machine which measures and indicates the heartbeat was attached to Booysen. Apparently there was no heartbeat.
The hospital said that in cases where the foetus dies in the womb, natural birth is the preferred delivery method. This supposedly spares the woman from the trauma of a caesarean.
However, Booysen said it would have been far less traumatic for her if she'd had a caesarean. She was in labour for hours while doctors and nursing staff "fiddled and pulled and tugged around" inside her.
According to the hospital, the baby's head appeared spontaneously, after which the one shoulder became stuck in a position which prevented a normal birth.
Head, arms stitched back on
During the process of delivering the rest of the baby, the "head and the arm at the back, which was already out, became detached from the rest of the body due to post-mortem changes in the foetal tissue", the hospital said. The tissue had apparently softened because the body had already started to decompose.
Lemeel's head and arms were later stitched back onto the body to give the dead foetus "the dignity it deserves", and so the family could bury a "complete body".
The hospital stated that the baby's death is not being investigated because, according to them, the foetus was no longer living when Booysen was admitted. The medical staff had apparently followed the "accepted obstetric procedure".
Booysen said the hospital never gave her an explanation in this much detail regarding what had happened according to them.
Kebaakae Metsi, police spokesperson in North-West, said Lemeel's death is being investigated.
The hospital sent his body to Potchefstroom for a post-mortem. Booysen said they've been informed that it will be done on Wednesday. The family also want to bury Lemeel on Wednesday.