A young Mitchells Plain mother has blamed doctors at the Lentegeur District Hospital for causing her baby’s death.
Chelsea Johnson, 21, from Lentegeur says she visited the hospital on two occasions but was sent back home with her sick child.
“The first time I took him [in July] he was around six weeks old. I noticed at night when he used to breathe, he would start to cough to a point where it sounded like he was choking.
“He also used to sweat so much that his clothes would be wet.
“Mueed was a premature baby, he was born at eight months, so I was always aware that there would be complications,” she said.
Chelsea claims a doctor looked at her son and sent her home after “mocking” her.
“He told me that there is nothing wrong with my child and that we as first-time mommies should stop being paranoid about bringing in babies for every small thing.
“At his clinic appointment when he was two-and-a-half months old, I mentioned it and they referred me back to the hospital.
“When I took him back, they diagnosed him with bronchitis and gave me nose drops and an asthma pump.
“This didn’t work so I took him back to the clinic who prescribed me antibiotics and Panado.
“This helped and he seemed to get better, little did I know how hard his body was fighting.”
She recalls the morning of September 14 when klein Mueed did not wake up.
“I turned to him and he was already blue. I picked him up and ran to the hospital; when we got there they declared him deceased and since that day nothing has been the same. I blamed myself... why didn’t I fight harder?
“If they just listened to me, did X-rays like I asked and referred me to Red Cross [War Memorial Children’s] Hospital my child would still be alive, now my reason for living is gone forever because of their negligence,” the ma said.
Western Cape Health Department spokesperson Monique Johnstone says Mueed was seen on two occasions in July and August, where he was assessed by a paediatrician and another attending doctor and “was provided the correct medical care”.
“He was responding to the prescribed antibiotics as confirmed by the family in the medical notes,” Johnstone explained.
“His family was also counselled on the danger signs based on his condition and encouraged to bring him back if his health did not improve.
“A month after the last visit to the hospital, Mueed was unresponsive at home and brought to the hospital where he was unfortunately pronounced dead on arrival.”