Staff Reporter |A three week old baby will have her arm amputated, after nurses at Gwanda Provincial Hospital allegedly mutilated it and left it to rot while trying to insert a cannula.
The Baby’s mother, Patience Chikahamadze (25), told the media that the nurses at the hospital continually complained to patients of being demotivated due to lack of apparatus to use at the hospital over and above their delayed salaries which the family believes could have been the cause of negligence.
The weeping mother explained that her family has engaged lawyers to represent them in demanding compensation from the hospital.
Chikahamadze said Andile was born at the hospital on July 22 when she went to visit relatives in Gwanda. The baby, she said, was admitted for routine observation on July 29 after she was said to be dehydrated.
“We’re devastated as a family. Our happiest moment has turned into a horrible nightmare,” she said, holding back tears.
“A doctor is carrying out tests on my baby here in Bulawayo. However, we’ve been told the arm is likely to be cut off at the shoulder.”
Miss Chikahamadze said she shed tears as she watched nurses pricking her daughter all over her arm in a vain attempt to insert the cannula as they could not locate a vein to put a drip.
“They pricked my baby on almost 10 parts of her body and she wailed piteously. When they eventually forced it in, two pints of fluid were pumped into her arm before the drip stopped flowing and her arm began to swell.”
“We tried to tell the nurses on duty that something seemed amiss but they cut us short. They said they knew better. My baby’s condition began to deteriorate and she cried a lot indicating she was in pain. Nurses that I won’t mention by name turned a deaf ear and instead concentrated on their phones.”
Miss Chikahamadze said Andile’s body temperature shot up to about 40 degrees.
“The cannula was stuck on my baby’s arm for over a week, although we could see that the arm was getting infected. The arm was getting dehydrated and skin on her whole body began to peel off. Still no one was willing to listen to our pleas as they claimed to know better,” she said stifling sobs.
She said baby Andile was eventually transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital on August 8.
Matabeleland South provincial medical director Dr Brian Maponga said he had requested the family to put their complaint in writing to assist investigators.
“I have asked the parents to submit a complaint detailing everything in writing. I will meet them and I have also asked the hospital to give me an update on what transpired. Those two reports will guide us on the next step,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources at the hospital have denied any wrong doing by the nurses instead blaming the mother for refusing to cooperate with the nurses and he hospital.
The nurses claim that the mother actually sneaked out of the hospital without official release from the hospital.