Juan Venter, 2 day old baby of poor-white Boksburg couple, suffers burns in Germiston Hospital:: 16 July 2014. - The parents of Juan Venter, who was two days old when he suffered serious burn-wounds from an electric blanket at the Bertha Goxwa Hospital in Germiston said the baby was found by the mother on Saturday-morning covered up by a silver blanket. The mother Mariaan Pienaar, 25, said she was stopped by the nurses on Friday-night from putting warm clothes on him. His hands and feet were icecold and blue. The nurses prohibited me from dressing my own baby, claiming they are only allowed to use their own hygienic blankets. The following morning she found Juan covered up beneath a silver heat-blanket. The blanket was red-hot and when I lifted it there were huge boils on his knees, his toes and his right-arm. Ms Pienaar said she was very upset and demanded explanations from the doctor and nurses - who offered three different explanations of what could have caused the burn-wounds. First they told me my child was born that way. Thats rubbish, we took his pictures shortly after birth and there were no boils on him. Then they said blood-clots had burst inside his legs because the baby was suffering septicaemia and bronchitis. The doctor claimed he got the boils from the septicaemia. The staff insisted on keeping the baby in hospital and Ms Pienaar refused to leave without her baby. Two weeks after his birth the wounds turned black - and then she was transferred to the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, which has a specialised mother-and-baby ward.I cannot complain about the treatment at Baragwanath - but they took tests and refused to confirm that the injuries were burn-wounds. Ms Prinsloo believes that they are protecting the Germiston Hospital. Meanwhile the family has consulted a private medical practitioner who has undertaken to treat the baby free of charge. The couple are empoverished and living in Boksburg. The doctor has requested anonimity - but she confirmed in an interview with Maroela Media that baby Juan definitely was suffering from burn-wounds. After the mom and baby were discharged from hospital his wounds have cleared up considerably. We treat his wounds every day with ointment and cover it with gauze, and bandages. Juan also needs physiotherapy and they will have to wait and see whether the burns caused any permanent damage to the little baby. The couple are consulting lawyers to discuss the road ahead, they said. Ms Pienaar said she was overwhelmed by the help the poor couple received from the community and organisations. She thanked everyone for their contributions and prayers. Gauteng health dept spokeswoman Patricia Mokoena would merely confirm that Juan was born at the Bertha Goxwa-hospital. She would not comment about the injuries the baby sustained there. maroelamedia.co.za/
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 08:49:15 +0000