Loide Jason
The health ministry will conduct a full investigation into the allegation of a 25-year-old woman, who lost her baby boy before delivery last Monday at Outjo district hospital, allegedly due to nurses' negligence.
Health executive director Ben Nangombe said he has received the preliminary report from the hospital as to what happened but there is a directive that a full investigation should commenced.
Last week, Ania Nicoleta Horases told New Era her son would have been alive had the nurses made more effort to attend to her pain the first time she visited the Outjo hospital on 31 December 2021.
“Of course, when there are allegations, investigations need to be launched. The investigation has started and we are about to receive the final report as to what exactly happened,” he explained.
Nangombe added the ministry would be able to disclose more information on the death of the baby boy when the investigations are completed.
However, the mother of the baby had last week said she needed the hospital to assist her with funeral arrangements, as she cannot afford a burial.
On that matter, Nangombe indicated he had engaged the health director in the region but he has not received feedback on whether or not they will assist.
However, the father of the baby, Steh Goeieman, said the family has finished with the funeral arrangements and will now opt to take legal action against the health staff at the hospital, as it is entirely at fault.
Horases said the hospital did not make much of an effort to save her baby, as she had been to the hospital a month before the incident.
“I had experienced pain on the 31st and called an ambulance that responded and picked me up from the farm with a car from another department. The nurses observed me and told me that it is premature labour; I must go back to the farm and rest to wait for the mature labour, which I did,” she explained.
She added she then decided to go back to the hospital on the Saturday when the pain worsened but nothing was done; instead, she was kept in an isolation room to wait for labour.
“While I was in that room, the pain got worse, and I decided to alert the nurses on duty, who then checked to measure the contraction – just to see me heavily bleeding. She rushed to scan me – just to find my baby breathless,” she explained.
She said if the nurses could have scanned her on the first day she visited the hospital, that death could be avoided.
“Imagine, if those nurses could put in much effort to scan the pregnancy to determine the problem, my baby could be alive if I was scanned on time and there will be no extra costs."