A woman in Limpopo, South Africa reportedly gave birth to a baby outside the Burgersfort Clinic in Sekhukhune District.
The Limpopo department of Health has sent officials from their ranks to investigate the incident.
A video has also come out, where community members can be seen waiting for the medical facility to open. The clinic usually begins operating at around 7:00 AM. In the video, the community members are harassing a female nurse, trying to assist a woman.
According to the video, the woman seems to have given birth approximately fifteen minutes after she arrived at the medical facility door.
The responsible authorities are investigating the incident. In the meantime, they have urged the community members to remain calm. This will give them enough time to explore the specifics of the incident.
The health department has urged members of the community to make a note of the following points:
Burgersfort Clinic is now a day clinic. It used to operate 24 hours a day, although now it does not. The reason for this change is the emergence of high criminal elements threatening nurses during night shifts.
The department is working with the community and government stakeholders to solve the issues of increased crime rates. The government urged the people to use nearby clinics for late emergencies.
The health department has advised pregnant women not to wait until the last moment to visit a hospital/Clinic to seek help.
Usually, it takes between 8-15 hours for a woman to deliver a child after first feeling labour pains. However, in most cases, it depends on the number of children a woman has already delivered.
In this case, the woman delivered her child only fifteen minutes after reaching the hospital.
The Department of Health of Limpopo, South Africa, aims to encourage pregnant women to visit health facilities for antenatal consultations. During these consultations, the expecting women are informed about the facilities they can deliver at, in line with the department’s maternal health standards.
