News / Health
Botched home caesarean section kills VaPostori woman
13 Jun 2015 at 21:56hrs | Views
A PREGNANT Johanne Marange Apostolic Church member died after an unqualified midwife allegedly slit open her abdomen and removed a still born baby, during a botched Caesarean section done at home in a nasty incident that occurred recently in Honde Valley as a result of religious beliefs that shun hospitals.
A Caesarean section is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen one or more babies and it is often performed when a normal delivery would put the baby's or mother's life or health at risk.
Police in Manicaland confirmed the death of Maria Mwanaka (19), of Nyandoro Village under Headman Muparutsa, after Monica Muranganwa, an unskilled midwife, allegedly slit open Mwanaka's abdomen and removed a still born baby, in an ill-fated operation.
Apparently, Muranganwa is a known church midwife.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri, said police received wind from an unknown caller recently, alerting them about the plan to have Muranganwa conduct an operation on Mwanaka.
"Police received some leads on May 26, alerting us about the plan to have Muranganwa conduct a caesarean operation on Mwanaka. The whistle blower told the police that Mwanaka was pregnant and was being attended to by Muranganwa, a well known Johanne Marange Church midwife in the area.
"Police attended the scene, but could not find Muranganwa or Mwanaka. Two days later, Headman Muparutsa phoned, informing us that there was a funeral in the area following the death of Mwanaka after an unsuccessful operation.
"Police went on the ground and saw people gathered at the funeral. They inspected Mwanaka's body and discovered that the baby had been removed.
"Both Mwanaka's body and the baby were taken for post mortem at Hauna District Hospital," said Insp Chishiri.
Insp Chishiri, who said investigations were in progress, also urged members of the public to seek contemporary medical attention.
"Investigations into this case are still in progress, but we really urge members of the public, especially those belonging to apostolic sects, to seek contemporary medical attention from hospitals where they can be attended to by professionals," he said.
Ironically, this incident comes at a time when health officials in Manicaland were quoted in the media, saying they had finally made a breakthrough in the region as apostolic faith members were now accepting medication.
A number of apostolic sects have over the years shunned seeking medication, saying it was against their religious beliefs and relying mainly on Holy Spirit, water and intensely hot stones for healing various illnesses.
However, this has brought its own challenges as newly-born children and other members of the vapostori sect have succumbed to diseases like cholera, HIV, measles, dysentery and others.
A Caesarean section is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen one or more babies and it is often performed when a normal delivery would put the baby's or mother's life or health at risk.
Police in Manicaland confirmed the death of Maria Mwanaka (19), of Nyandoro Village under Headman Muparutsa, after Monica Muranganwa, an unskilled midwife, allegedly slit open Mwanaka's abdomen and removed a still born baby, in an ill-fated operation.
Apparently, Muranganwa is a known church midwife.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri, said police received wind from an unknown caller recently, alerting them about the plan to have Muranganwa conduct an operation on Mwanaka.
"Police received some leads on May 26, alerting us about the plan to have Muranganwa conduct a caesarean operation on Mwanaka. The whistle blower told the police that Mwanaka was pregnant and was being attended to by Muranganwa, a well known Johanne Marange Church midwife in the area.
"Police attended the scene, but could not find Muranganwa or Mwanaka. Two days later, Headman Muparutsa phoned, informing us that there was a funeral in the area following the death of Mwanaka after an unsuccessful operation.
"Both Mwanaka's body and the baby were taken for post mortem at Hauna District Hospital," said Insp Chishiri.
Insp Chishiri, who said investigations were in progress, also urged members of the public to seek contemporary medical attention.
"Investigations into this case are still in progress, but we really urge members of the public, especially those belonging to apostolic sects, to seek contemporary medical attention from hospitals where they can be attended to by professionals," he said.
Ironically, this incident comes at a time when health officials in Manicaland were quoted in the media, saying they had finally made a breakthrough in the region as apostolic faith members were now accepting medication.
A number of apostolic sects have over the years shunned seeking medication, saying it was against their religious beliefs and relying mainly on Holy Spirit, water and intensely hot stones for healing various illnesses.
However, this has brought its own challenges as newly-born children and other members of the vapostori sect have succumbed to diseases like cholera, HIV, measles, dysentery and others.
Source - manicapost
