“The bins have already been emptied.”
That was the shocking response given to a Helenvale mother by a Dora Nginza Hospital staff member when she went to collect the body of her newborn baby.
Kimone Mutsie, 20, was just 27 weeks pregnant when she went into premature labour on July 5.
Mutsie claims she was left bleeding for hours on a hospital bench, given little medical assistance and later told her baby had died despite allegedly hearing the infant cry at birth.
Her child’s body was later discarded.
She was accompanied by her mother, Rose, 57, during the birth of her first child.
Speaking this week, Mutsie said she was eventually given two pills and taken to a room where she gave birth.
“A doctor came to see me, but told me it was not time for the baby to come out and told me not to push.
“However, I gave birth. I [allegedly] heard my baby cry, but before I could hold my baby, I was told by the nurses to go and clean myself up because I was dirty,” Mutsie said.
When she came back from the bathroom and asked to see her newborn, she was told the child had died.
“I was told my child died ages ago inside my womb and that the cry I heard was the child of another woman.
“I don’t believe this because the other women with me were still in labour, having contractions when I was giving birth.
“All I was told was they are sorry for my loss,” she said.
She was never given a birth or death certificate for her child.
Rose said when the family went to collect the child’s remains on July 7, they were not given a body.
The family was inspired to speak out after reading the article about Justine Botha, who had alleged that ill-treatment she received at Dora Nginza led to the death of her child, Liam.
Botha recounted her five-day ordeal at the hospital when she was admitted at 41 weeks pregnant on May 12 and alleged she was denied food, forced to sleep on chairs and dirty beds, and left without medical assistance as the contractions intensified.
Rose said: “When we went to collect the body, the superintendent said the body was binned, which had been emptied.”
A North Gauteng High Court ruling in 2021 declared that in the event of a loss of pregnancy other than stillbirth, the bereaved parent or parents had the right to bury the dead foetus if they elected to do so.
Mutsie’s boyfriend, Keenan Grount, 27, alleged the hospital staff had told the family they could not be given the body because it was underweight.
“We went there demanding the body but were told we couldn’t get it because it was underweight,” he said.
“Then we went there again on Tuesday July 8, and that’s when they told us the bin was already emptied.”
Rose said her daughter sat on the benches at the hospital for several hours bleeding, allegedly without receiving any assistance.
“There was a doctor who was walking up and down the hospital, and when I asked him to take a look and perhaps help Kimone, he said he wasn’t working in that ward,” she said.
“My child is still bleeding from that whole experience because aside from her not being given her child and told the body had been thrown away, they still [allegedly] gave her a three-year contraceptive implant without asking her consent first.”
Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa’s spokesperson, Camagwini Mavovana, said staff were expected to treat all matters relating to stillbirths, miscarriages and the handling of human tissue with the utmost care and dignity.
“Ordinarily, when a foetus is below a certain gestational stage, the human tissue is managed in line with health regulations and families are given the choice on how they wish the remains to be handled.
“In this instance, the family returned several days later, by which time the hospital had already followed the required protocols for the respectful management of the tissue.”
She said this policy was in place to ensure compliance with regulations, while also upholding dignity.
“The case was managed as a miscarriage in accordance with established clinical procedures.
“The department acknowledges how sensitive and painful such circumstances are and stresses that every effort is made to handle these situations with care and dignity.
“The department would like to emphasise that all healthcare workers are bound by strict ethical standards and legal requirements when it comes to reproductive health services.
“Any form of family planning method, including long-acting contraceptives such as implants, cannot be administered without the informed consent of the patient.”
Mutsie, who cried uncontrollably during the interview, insisted that she had never asked for the implant, alleging it was done without her consent.
Rose said she had lost an opportunity to be a grandmother.
“They’ve taken so much from my daughter without any consequences, but they want to talk about being overworked.
“I’m now sitting with a child who is no longer herself and probably will never be herself.
“She sits by herself crying, she’s not eating, she’s not OK because she was never even allowed to see what her child looks like.”
The Herald
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