News / Local
Mpilo hospital in hot soup over infant death
08 Dec 2014 at 08:50hrs | Views
Mpilo Central Hospital has been dragged to court over the death of an infant who was roasted to death by an incubator while the mother watched helplessly.
The inquest involves Nobuhle Nkomo from Makokoba who gave birth to premature female twins in July last year.
Filing her application, Nkomo's legal representative Dumisani Dube from Cheda and Partners Legal Practitioners said his client had her twin babies hospitalised for three weeks and all was well.
"On July 10 at 12noon, Nkomo went for routine breastfeeding and was shocked to find the infants now placed in an incubator.
This was despite the fact that the twins never suffered or showed any signs of hypothermia," said Dube.
Hypothermia is a potentially dangerous drop in body temperature, usually caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.
According to Dube, Nkomo helplessly watched her babies being roasted and crying in pain as a result of over-exposure to the heater.
"The children were all screaming in agony and had swollen hands. Their skin had changed to a charcoal black colour.
"Surprisingly, the nurse on duty advised my client that it was normal, but one of the twins was certified dead days later, while the other had her hand amputated."
Dube said a year and a half had passed with no inquest and authorities at Mpilo had failed to explain how the child died.
The inquest involves Nobuhle Nkomo from Makokoba who gave birth to premature female twins in July last year.
Filing her application, Nkomo's legal representative Dumisani Dube from Cheda and Partners Legal Practitioners said his client had her twin babies hospitalised for three weeks and all was well.
"On July 10 at 12noon, Nkomo went for routine breastfeeding and was shocked to find the infants now placed in an incubator.
This was despite the fact that the twins never suffered or showed any signs of hypothermia," said Dube.
Hypothermia is a potentially dangerous drop in body temperature, usually caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.
According to Dube, Nkomo helplessly watched her babies being roasted and crying in pain as a result of over-exposure to the heater.
"The children were all screaming in agony and had swollen hands. Their skin had changed to a charcoal black colour.
"Surprisingly, the nurse on duty advised my client that it was normal, but one of the twins was certified dead days later, while the other had her hand amputated."
Dube said a year and a half had passed with no inquest and authorities at Mpilo had failed to explain how the child died.
Source - Chronicle
