Joburg Moms Want Answers From Hospital on How Babies Got Swapped at Birth
- Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Volsoorus has admitted to accidentally switching babies at birth on Monday
- Nurses failed to place name tags on the boys after they were born and do not know which child belongs to which mom
- The new moms from Johannesburg say that they will not be discharged with their newborns until a DNA test is conducted
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JOHANNESBURG - Two new moms who gave birth at Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Volsoorus, Johannesburg have been left frustrated and confused after their newborns were switched at the hospital's maternity wards.
The mothers have been demanding answers from the hospital as to what exactly happened according to a report by EWN. The publication states that after the moms gave birth to boys in the same ward, the hospital nurses did not place name tags on the babies.
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The mothers have asked the hospital for DNA tests to solve the mistake that was made by the hospital before they can be discharged and take their babies home.
Thembi Morapula says she was transferred to the hospital from a clinic nearby the hospital in Thokhoza. She indicated that after giving birth she was transferred to a different ward to rest.
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When it was time to officially meet her son, nurses informed her that a mistake was made that the hospital may have mixed up her child with someone else's child. She was, however, assured that her baby was well and alive, according to Opera News.
The Gauteng Health Department has stated that they would launch investigations into what happened.
Gauteng records more than 23 000 teen pregnancies in 1 year, others aged only 10
Briefly News previously reported that the Gauteng province has recorded over 23 000 teenage pregnancy cases between April 2020 and March 2021.
A total of 934 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 gave birth in that time, according to an earlier News24 report.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi made the revelations in a written response to questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA) tabled in the Gauteng legislature.
Briefly News understands that from 23 226 pregnancies, 2 976 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 opted to terminate the pregnancies while 20 250 teenagers decided they would keep them.
Age of consent in South Africa is 16
In South Africa, the age of consent is 16 years, and this has no bearing on the gender or sexual orientation of the persons involved.
The law makes the provision that no child under the age of 12 years can consent to sex. Consequently, any sexual act with a child under 12 years is considered statutory rape or sexual assault.
Source: Briefly News
