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Sharon Chiware, Midlands Reporter
A WOMAN bled to death at Gweru’s Claybank Hospital allegedly because a doctor who was called to attend to her responded late, an inquest has heard.

Gweru Magistrate Mr Musaiona Shotgame sitting as a coroner heard that Ms Nokuthula Hove died while waiting for a doctor to attend to her in September 2015.

A nurse told the coroner that delays to attend to the Ms Hove led to her death, hours after giving birth through a Caesarean section.

The hospital doctor who was on duty Dr Stancilous Mashamba was called to attend to her but allegedly delayed resulting in her bleeding to death.

Today Dr Mashamba is expected to testify.

Giving evidence, a midwife at the hospital Sister Sphiwe Mashava said on September 30, 2015, the deceased gave birth through a Caesarean section at around 9:50AM.

She said Ms Hove started bleeding moderately after every 15 minutes. The midwife said Ms Hove started losing more blood from 12:30PM.

She said procedures that she performed to prevent the loss of blood did not help.

“I immediately phoned Dr Stancilous Mashamba who was on duty on that day but he delayed coming. I then went on to phone Dr Justice Mandizvidza who was doing his rounds in other wards and he came,” she said.

Since the condition was critical, Sister Mashava said they phoned a specialist doctor, Dr Velda Mushangwe who arrived between 3PM to 4PM.

“Dr Mashamba, who had delayed in attending to the patient, came when the deceased had been taken back to the theatre for her second operation,” she said.

Dr Velda Mushangwe told the inquest that Ms Hove lost a lot of blood leading to her death.

—@sharonchiware1.