Online Reporter
Robin Muchetu, Health and Gender Editor
WHEN Ms Gracious Gumede (32) of Mfanisoni Village, Nkuba in Nkayi District who lives with a physical disability decided to have a child, it was a brave decision that was motivated by a strategic plan to have a person who will look after her in future.
Coming from a background that is devoid of opulence, she did not consult any medical personnel on the possibility of the process and the complications that may arise. She probably thought she will be discouraged and left everything in God’s hands.
On Thursday night her script became one of triumph. She delivered a healthy baby boy on her way to Bulawayo from Nkayi and her story became one of victory in the face of what seemed like insurmountable misfortunes.
Her pregnancy, her journey from Nkayi that was fraught with obstacles, her delivery along the way all describe a resilient person who has been hardened by what life has been throwing at her.
At Mpilo Central Hospital where Sunday News caught up with her, she was a mixture of feelings.
For a mother who had endured the agony of childbirth and a bruising road trip from Nkayi to Bulawayo that was punctuated by mishaps and near fatal experiences, joy or excitement couldn’t be read from her face.
The smile was measured, it would come occasionally and gently. The voice was depressed and the tone was hushed.
She exuded hope when talking of her newly born son. Her face lit. It does so again when she talks of the father of her son.
Her face brightened as she talks about how supportive he has been in a union that she said was despised by many.
Her voice was bold and full of life when she received a phone call from her brother who had arrived from Hwange to see the new baby.
“It’s a typical day I will never forget,” she said, narrating hat they were met by five large elephants that blocked and charged at the ambulance ferrying her to Bulawayo to give birth.
So terrifying was the scene that the ambulance crew reversed away into the darkness and changed their route to avoid harm to the precious cargo.
Ms Gumede just healed from burn wounds she sustained after a mysterious fire gutted down three of the Gumede family homesteads in August this year leaving them with nothing.
“I decided to have a baby with my partner so that I have someone who will look after me as I am disabled. I have muscular dystrophy and cannot do much for myself. This is my first baby. I started having contractions around 12pm and told my partner, then we looked for a vehicle to Nkayi where I was told I would give birth soon but needed to be transferred to Mpilo Hospital for a possible Caesarean section. However, along the way I gave birth at 9.06pm to a baby boy in an ambulance,” said Ms Gumede.
Asked about the elephants, she said she was told by the nurses that they had blocked the ambulance. They had to reroute.
“I felt that the elephants were going to stop me from welcoming my baby safely, we were going to have an accident but luckily nothing like that happened,” she said.
While stories of the “brutality” of midwives during childbirth always make rounds, the case of Ms Gumede opens the world to the patience, diligence and compassionate nature of nurses as they go above and beyond what they are taught at nursing school.
“From the time I started attending our local clinic when I was three months pregnant till now, nurses have been good to me, I have not had any challenges, looking at my condition. What also stunned them was the courage I displayed during labour, they were wondering how a disabled person like me can successfully give birth naturally in the circumstances we were in,” she said.
She said her newborn is her new found hope as he will assist her in doing many of the things she cannot do.
“I need a lot of assistance and I am not mobile so I decided to have this baby with my partner to help me in the future. We have been together for one year with my partner,” she added.
Two midwives who attended Ms Gumede in the ambulance gave an account of the happenings of the day but could not be named for professional reasons.
“It was the Thursday 11th of December; I was on night duty and I was informed that there was a patient who was in labour and they feared she would not be able to deliver safely owing to her physical disability.
“I panicked initially but I had to ensure she was safe as the senior nurse who was available that day. We called for a doctor who suggested she get a Caesarian section. We assessed her pelvic area and her lower limbs could not move well to allow a baby to be delivered safely so we decided to transfer her to Bulawayo via an ambulance,” he said.
He called for another senior nurse who was off duty to accompany him in the ambulance.
“I carried my emergency box which I was going to use if the patient was to bleed on the way together with some lights.
“We arrived at Majoyi Business Centre and entered Gwampa Forest, I was in the back of the ambulance with the patient and there were sudden, emergency brakes that were applied. I peeped to see why there was sudden braking, I assumed it was a cow, but it was an elephant that was crossing the road. The driver quickly switched off the lights and started reversing for about 100 metres,” he added.
He commended the swift action of their experienced driver when they met the jumbos.
“If he had none, we would have had an accident, he removed us and the patient from a danger zone, we had all panicked. We waited a bit, we needed to go to Bulawayo as the patient was in pain needing specialised care and could not go back to Nkayi. We opted to use a different road-Kenilworth- which would also lead us to Bulawayo,” he said.
At that point the contractions intensified.
“I was scared she would injure the baby if she started pushing so I helped her with breathing techniques. We got to a clinic and disembarked and it was now serious. We observed her but she was still far along, the membranes had not raptured and we continued with the journey.
“Owing to the gravel road and bumps, it exacerbated the contractions and we had to move fast to get help. After Kenilworth Headquarters she got worse and we stopped the ambulance on the side of the road, laid out our lights, wore protective clothing as the baby’s head was now in sight. We had trouble getting the baby out as Ms Gumede’s pelvic area was small and deformed making delivery difficult for the baby to come,” he added.
The baby was eventually born on the side of the road with very little challenges.
“The mother is a strong woman, she co-operated with us, we told her exactly what she was supposed to do to ensure a safe delivery and she did just that. We managed to deliver her and it was stable. We then proceeded to Mpilo Central Hospital where we were received by Sister Nyoni and she helped us tremendously and we left her in her care,” he said.
He also had a word for midwives following his experience.
“I urge all midwives to be strong and courageous when you meet such situations, we must not tire or be scared because we pledged to help deliver pregnant women safely at all times, no matter the circumstances. Team work is important,” he said.
The accompanying midwife also narrated the ordeal with the elephants as she was sitting in the front of the ambulance with the driver.
“We were in an emergency situation, driving down the road when a huge elephant appeared about 10 metres from where we were, it started charging at us and started flapping its ears. It lifted one leg and its trunk and came for us. We then saw that there were actually five elephants, two were headed in the same direction as us, two were on the side of the road and one charged at us. We switched off the beacon lights and the driver reversed to safety,” she said.
The family is appealing for donations of baby clothes and also for the mother, milk formula as the mother is not producing much milk, diapers and food.
@NyembeziMu
