A 23-YEAR-OLD mother of newborn twins from Pomeroy, on the KZN midlands, is full of praise for the medical staff at Pomeroy Community Health Centre (CHC), who came to her aid when she went into emergency labour.
Due to concerns about the growth of the twins that she was carrying, Nonjabulo Buthelezi had been booked to deliver as a high-risk patient at Grey’s Hospital on 30 April 2018.
However, on Wednesday, 25 April 2018, while at home at Pomeroy, she started experiencing mild cramps earlier in the day. She did not think much of it. But in the evening, it became clear that she was going into labour. She was rushed to Pomeroy CHC.
As a safety precaution, women who are expecting twins are referred to district or regional hospital, as these normally have better resources, such as medical theatres, more skilled staff and emergency blood stocks.
Cuba-trained Dr Sanele Madela, CEO of Pomeroy CHC, says he had been on call when he was informed that Ms Buthelezi had been admitted at the facility, fully dilated, and needed to deliver her twins.
“We had no choice but to deliver her immediately,” said Dr Madela, who has also thanked the team of nurses who helped him during the delivery.
“If a person is expecting twins, we prefer them to give birth in a hospital that has a theatre, because if there are complications during the labour and delivery process, you can rush into theatre and save hers and the baby’s life. It is always safer in a district or regional hospital.
He said that when a woman is expecting twins it means that her cervix will be bigger, and after giving birth, it may not return to its normal size early enough, which makes her more susceptible to bleeding after delivering.
“Bleeding is one of the main factors that lead to mothers dying after birth,” said Dr Madela.
Describing the birth of the twins and the precautionary measures that were taken, Dr Madela said: “We prepared everything to ensure that we are ready. We were proactive. We anticipated everything. We did not want to start looking for things that we knew we would need. We made sure the necessary drugs are in place so that once the second baby is out, and we have removed the placenta, we administer them. We did not want to wait for the mother to bleed. We prevented it from the word go.”
Ms Buthelezi gave birth to Siyabonga and Zenande, a boy and a girl, weighing 1350g and 1950g, respectively. She was immediately transferred to Church of Scotland Hospital in a specialised obstetrics ambulance, where one of the babies, Siyabonga, was put in a nursery because of his low birth weight.
Ms Buthelezi, who also has a four year-old child and wants to become a social worker, said: “My message to the doctor and medical staff at Pomeroy is that they must continue helping others, and treat them as well as they treated me. Even though I was scared, they were able to put me at ease and help me. I even asked them why I was told I needed to go to Grey’s Hospital when they were so well-equipped to help me.”
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has congratulated the medical team at Pomeroy CHC, and also urged expectant mothers generally not to travel too far away from health facilities when they are due to deliver.
“We are proud of what Dr Madela and his team have managed to do to help the mother of the twins. It takes nothing less than expertise, passion and dedication of all concerned to ensure that such a risky operation goes off smoothly. Although it is difficult to predict accurately when Mother Nature will take its course, we urge expectant mothers to make use of the mothers’ lodges which are available at some of our hospitals when they are close to their date of delivery. In cases of hospitals that do not have mothers’ lodges yet, we urge mothers not to travel too far from home, so that if they go into labour, they can be transported easily to the nearest health facility.”