Aaron Nicodemus
A Joubert Park clinic nearly killed a pregnant woman last week during an illegal abortion. The abortion was performed on a 32-year-old Soweto woman who was seven- and-a-half-months pregnant, nearly four months past the legal limit.
The woman was sent in a metered taxi from the Hillcrest Family Planning Clinic on May 13 to Coronation hospital, after she had begun bleeding excessively during the attempted abortion.
Gynaecologist Dr Simon Levine, who operated on her at Coronation to stem the bleeding and save her life, said the woman nearly died as a result of the botched abortion. The woman’s baby was delivered when she arrived at the hospital, but died the next morning.
After the operation she was put on a respirator for three days, and was in intensive care for a week.
This week she was taken out of intensive care and continues to recover at Coronation hospital. The woman, who may not be named for legal reasons, paid R1 300 for the abortion that nearly ended her life.
Abortion on request is legal in South Africa, but only up to the 14th week of pregnancy – three-and-a-half-months. The legislation does, however, allow an abortion up to 24 weeks, under “exceptional circumstances” subject to the approval of a social worker, doctor or midwife.
The anaesthesiologist who assisted with the surgery said he is appalled by what happened and the way the woman was treated at the clinic. “It’s unbelievable that they’re being allowed to do this type of thing,” he said. “It was a butchery of an operation.”
The woman’s parents say that she hid her pregnancy from them because she was ashamed. “The reason she did this was out of desperation,” said the woman’s father. “She’s got a one-and-a-half-year-old boy, and I think she was ashamed about this pregnancy.”
Neither parent knew about the pregnancy until after the botched abortion. They were both very upset at the way the Hillcrest Family Planning Clinic treated their daughter.
“We’ve been crying every day since she was admitted,” the woman’s mother said. “That doctor, he doesn’t care about her, he just cares about money. She should press charges against him because he was negligent.”
Her father was also angry at the clinic. “I’m interested in exposing this guy for what he did to my daughter. We should put a stop on this,” he said.
Dr Vuyo Vanqa of the Hillcrest Family Planning Clinic, the doctor who performed the abortion, said that every precaution was taken to prevent a tragedy. “Accidents do happen. I don’t plan an accident. We let people know the procedure is not without its risks, and we try very hard to minimise the risks,” he said.
Vanqa said his examination of the woman placed the length of her pregnancy at 19 weeks and six days, within the 20-week (sixth month) legal limit for performing an abortion. He said he used a sonography to determine the length of her pregnancy.
Vanqa says he met with the woman twice, and after “careful counselling”, gave her tablets to place into her vagina to induce labour. He began performing the abortion eight days after counselling the woman, he said.
Vanqa says that during the procedure the woman began bleeding profusely, and he stopped performing the abortion. He ordered two pints of blood and began a transfusion. He says he kept her under observation for two hours before deciding to send her to Coronation hospital.
“I take responsibility for every patient that comes through here,” Vanqa said. “Sometimes you get unplanned complications. We take all the precautions we can.”
Vanqa and his nursing staff maintain that despite the serious loss of blood, the woman left the clinic under her own power and in her own clothes.
Administrators at Coronation hospital refused to comment on whether charges would be laid against Vanqa or the Hillcrest Family Planning Clinic.
At the time of publication no charges had been filed with the Hillbrow police. The health department in Pretoria, which was notified about the case before publication, also declined to comment.