A Cape Flats mom who thought her baby had died after an emergency C-section received a shock when police tracked her down and reunited her with her miracle premature baby.
The mom had undergone the emergency operation in December after being diagnosed with Covid-19 to save her baby’s life.
After spending a heartbroken Christmas in isolation and mistakenly believing her boy was dead, Nosipho Nkantini, 40, got a skrik when police arrived at her door on 3 January.
The mom from Eerste River, who works as a nurse for the City of Cape Town, tells the Daily Voice that she had been overjoyed when she found out she was pregnant with her son.
However, after facing the devastating death of her daughter, Isipho, who died just three days after being born in February last year she was also frightened.
“I am diabetic so they moved me to the district office so I did not have to deal with patients,” she explains.
“Being pregnant in the pandemic was hard and I did everything to avoid getting the virus.”
In early December, when she was only about halfway through her pregnancy, Nosipho developed symptoms of Covid-19.
She contacted her doctor, who initially did not suspect she had the virus and instead prescribed antibiotics.
On 17 December while visiting her gynaecologist, she suddenly became short of breath.
“I had a rapid Covid-19 test, and it came back negative. Still, I couldn’t breathe and it was terrifying. I couldn’t have X-rays or certain treatments for my symptoms because I was pregnant. My second Covid-19 test came back positive.”
She was transferred to Netcare N1 City Hospital but soon after arrival, lost consciousness and was placed on a ventilator.
“From then I can’t remember anything until I woke up days later, when I was told that I had suffered complications and my baby had been delivered by emergency C-section.”
Her son was born at just 25 weeks and Nosipho says when she was discharged days later, she was informed she could not see her baby and needed to be isolated at home.
“I was devastated, but I knew I couldn't see him. They told me they would phone me every day, but I never received the call.”
She says she thought her baby had died because he was born too soon, like his sister.
“I was still very traumatised by that, so I thought my boy didn’t make it, that’s why the hospital never called.
“But what happened was that my old number was on the system and so they could not reach me.”
She says the cops told her that her son was alive and that the hospital had been trying to trace her.
“I was so shocked I phoned the hospital and went there immediately. I was so happy to meet him and go there every day now. I just cried.
“His older brothers, Aviwe and Onako, can’t wait to meet him.”
The baby boy was named Oyena, which means “the one chosen by God” and tested negative for Covid-19.