Mdantsane pupil gives birth at a school toilet

Eastern Cape Department of Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth has hailed nurses and Emergency Medical Services personnel as heroes and heroines after they saved the lives of a young mother and her newborn baby after she had given birth at a Mdantsane school ablution facility.

Professional nurses, Noxolo Ntshintshi, Lukhangele Nombewu, EMS intermediate life support officer Moleboheng Ngoase and basic life support officer Lwandile Rawana were alerted to the schoolgirl giving birth at a nearby school and rushed to help her successfully deliver, on Wednesday, 17 May 2023.

The schoolgirl had been in labour and when the healthcare workers arrived at the school’s ablution facilities, she had lost a lot of blood.

EMS personnel, who were the first to arrive at the school, cut the umbilical cord while the nurses stabilised the young mother before rushing them to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital.

The mother is recovering at the hospital while her bundle of joy, who was born weighing 2.2kg is also at the facility.

Eastern Cape MEC for Health, Nomakhosazana Meth heaped praise on the healthcare workers.

“These are the kind of healthcare workers that we need. They are heroes and heroines for saving these two precious lives.

“These dedicated nurses and EMS personnel went above and beyond the call of duty. We are proud of them. With such dedication, our people are in safe hands,” she said.

Ntshintshi works at the neonatal ICU while Nombewu is at the staff development unit, where she conducts in-service training and community service trainings, among other responsibilities.

Nombewu said they were preparing for the CMH International Nurses Day celebration when she received a call from a teacher’s aid from the school, alerting them to the teenager giving birth at the ablution facility.

“We were told the baby has a cord around the neck so we just ran to the school. The teachers and learners were shouting for help.

“Fortunately, there was already an ambulance on scene. The paramedics cut the umbilical cord. We noticed that the mother was sweating, confused and she was bleeding a lot.

“We took her to the labour unit which is when the midwives took over,” she said, adding saving the baby and mother was a team effort.

Asked how she felt about what they did, she said: “For me it’s my life. Saving lives is our lives. I think it was God’s plan for us to be there.”

Ngoase and Rawana were on lunch break when they were alerted to the schoolgirl giving birth.

Ngoase said they had transported a patient from East London to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital for a CT scan.

“It’s our job. We’re used to it. But it was my first encounter at a school because we’re used to such cases at people’s homes.

“It was nice to have played a part in saving both mother and child. It was a complicated case because the umbilical cord was around the baby’s neck.

“There’s also a learner who played a huge role because she was holding the umbilical cord so that it does not strangle the baby. I would love to see that learner again and thank her for her role,” she said.

MEC Meth thanked the four healthcare workers for their efforts in saving the two lives.

“Such cases are the reason why we have revived the Batho Pele Service Excellence Awards, because our healthcare workers continue to do their best on a daily basis to save lives.

“We hope to see more of our healthcare workers selflessly caring for our people even in their communities,” MEC said.