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Nhlonipho Zulu can add midwife to his resume after helping a mother give birth in his taxi. |
Mini-bus taxi driver Nhlonipho Zulu (31) have earned to right to play Black Sunshine's hit "Born in a Taxi" in his vehicle after helped to deliver a baby while travelling from Richard’s Bay to Nongoma.
This after nurses at the Buedene clinic dismissed the mother's labor pains as false birth cramps, also known as Braxton Hicks contractions.
Zulu said he was about to finish his shift when an eight-months pregnant passenger told him she suspected she was about to go into labour. In a panic, he dropped all his other passengers and rushed the pregnant mother to Buxedene Clinic.
But after being examined, the nurses allegedly disputed that she was about to go into labour. He said the staff at the clinic rudely refused to call an ambulance and instead told him to take the pregnant woman to Benedictine Hospital, which is about 30 km away.
En route, Zulu said the mother was crying hysterically, begging him to stop the taxi and help her give birth.
“I was trying to ignore her pleas, and instead get her to hospital. But she let out a loud cry and said, ‘My baby is coming out, my baby is coming out. I can feel the head…’ She was literally begging me to stop and help her,” he said
Zulu stopped the taxi, made her lie on the seat and helped her give birth. With the baby safely delivered, he drove to a nearby homestead, to seek help.
“Fortunately, there were some elders who were able to cut the umbilical cord. By the time I took her to hospital, the baby was wrapped up in a blanket.”
The Department has since established that both mother and baby are in a stable condition at Benedictine Hospital.
MEC for health in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said she has ordered an investigation into allegations of the rude and improper conduct by nurses at Buxedene Clinic.
“What Mr Zulu did is nothing short of heroic. He could have just left her at the clinic and continued minding his own business. But instead, he forgot about all his commitments and stayed the course until the very end. And, anything could have happened while he was rushing her to hospital, even a possible loss of life. We are also thankful to the family that responded to his further efforts for help after he had helped deliver the baby,” said Simelane-Zulu.
Update
The SA National Taxi Council (Santaco-KZN) rewarded Zulu with R40,000, R6,500 of which was donated by the public.
The mother of the newborn baby boy, Ntombenhle Mthembu, received also R5 000, a gift pack and 500 disposable nappies, while the owner of the taxi, Nokuthula Mhlongo, received R3 000.
Santaco provincial chairperson Boy Zondi applauded Zulu, saying that he showed that there were members of the taxi industry who were kind and humane – something which was rarely publicised.
The Department of Health in the province has since suspended two nurses at the clinic for failing to assist Mthembu.
The Santaco-KZN training officer, Jeffrey Ngobese, also commended Zulu’s kindness.
Ngobese promised that the taxi industry would advance drivers’ training by adding a first aid course so that they can help passengers if necessary.