A mother of three died just 10km from hospital after giving birth in her Peddie home after waiting more than three hours for an ambulance.
Joyce Bhudaza, 67, said her daughter Zanele Bhudaza, 21, had died in her room while she was trying to find a private car to take Zanele to hospital.
Bhudaza, of Mthathi location just outside Peddie, said Zanele had given birth to a baby boy on Saturday shortly after 3am.
She drew her last breath at 6am.
Eastern Cape department of health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the ambulance was dispatched and arrived on the scene at 6.18am.
After certifying that Zanele was dead the ambulance left, leaving the newborn baby behind.
Kupelo said a probe into the staff’s behaviour was under way.
A grieving Bhudaza told the Daily Dispatch yesterday her daughter had suffered an unnecessary death.
“When I found my child in labour that morning I repeatedly called for an ambulance but no one picked up the phone. An hour later I found myself speaking to an operator in Gauteng who asked for my location and promised that an ambulance would arrive but it never did,” said Bhudaza.
She had also called local police but said no one answered.
An emotional Bhudaza said. “When it was morning my daughter summoned me to her room and asked me to stop trying to find help.
“She told me I had done enough, she asked me to look after her children as she was going away.
“She died right there and then. Her newborn was crying bitterly and the ambulance finally arrived and when they saw that my daughter was dead they walked out. I asked them what I should do with the newborn and they told me that it was now a police matter,” said Bhudaza.
She said when a mortuary van later collected her daughter’s body, she hired a village van to take the infant to hospital.
“He was admitted and on Monday they transferred him to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital. I saw him, he is very handsome and doing well,” said Bhudaza.
Kupelo said social workers would assist in “the welfare of the child”.
“We have started processes to build more halfway houses in rural health facilities to keep pregnant women close by when they are about to deliver,” he said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Mom dies waiting for ambulance
Joyce Bhudaza, 67, said her daughter Zanele Bhudaza, 21, had died in her room while she was trying to find a private car to take Zanele to hospital.
Bhudaza, of Mthathi location just outside Peddie, said Zanele had given birth to a baby boy on Saturday shortly after 3am.
She drew her last breath at 6am.
Eastern Cape department of health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the ambulance was dispatched and arrived on the scene at 6.18am.
After certifying that Zanele was dead the ambulance left, leaving the newborn baby behind.
Kupelo said a probe into the staff’s behaviour was under way.
A grieving Bhudaza told the Daily Dispatch yesterday her daughter had suffered an unnecessary death.
“When I found my child in labour that morning I repeatedly called for an ambulance but no one picked up the phone. An hour later I found myself speaking to an operator in Gauteng who asked for my location and promised that an ambulance would arrive but it never did,” said Bhudaza.
She had also called local police but said no one answered.
An emotional Bhudaza said. “When it was morning my daughter summoned me to her room and asked me to stop trying to find help.
“She told me I had done enough, she asked me to look after her children as she was going away.
“She died right there and then. Her newborn was crying bitterly and the ambulance finally arrived and when they saw that my daughter was dead they walked out. I asked them what I should do with the newborn and they told me that it was now a police matter,” said Bhudaza.
She said when a mortuary van later collected her daughter’s body, she hired a village van to take the infant to hospital.
“He was admitted and on Monday they transferred him to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital. I saw him, he is very handsome and doing well,” said Bhudaza.
Kupelo said social workers would assist in “the welfare of the child”.
“We have started processes to build more halfway houses in rural health facilities to keep pregnant women close by when they are about to deliver,” he said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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