Palesa shares the story of her three births with us. It’s amazing how different your experiences can be as you grow into yourself as a mother. The medical facility where you give birth can also affect your birth process. All birth stories are shared unedited. You can send us your birth story for upload, to be shared with or without your name.
First birth – 2012
I was a first time Mom to be at 8 months I had a minor complication, luckily It was fixed but I was monitored for 2 months at the hospital but I was initially meant to give birth at a clinic. 00:00 my labour starts my belly started feeling funny but I slept, at 1:50 I needed the toilet and as soon as got up my water burst, I cried because I thought I was peeing on myself at the age of 21. Than pains started at 3:30 I couldn’t walk 5 steps without this horrible pain. 3:50 I went to the hospital and the nurse told me to go to the clinic at my 40th week. So we drove to the clinic and we were told to go to the hospital I just came from. It’s around 4 and I was exhausted so I told the nurse what happened at the hospital and my family left. All I wanted was to sleep but it seemed the pain was severe when I was on the bed so I walked around for about an hour. A clueless me when my son was pushing himself out I was squeezing him in, I called the nurse and she checked how far I was but my son’s head was crowning. I struggled to push 5:30 I gave birth to my son after 3 or 4 tries and the nurses cut me because I was struggling
Second birth – 2014
I told myself I had experience now, my labour started at 6 am, started with a running tummy. I woke up, cleaned the house and took a long bath and I patiently waited for my water to burst. At 12 pm my labour pains started, very bad pains but because my Aunty and nieces were visiting I couldn’t make a sound, didn’t want to scare the kids, I tried breathing but it was hell. I was fetched and dropped at the clinic at 2:30 pm my water burst at 2:35 I was told to get undressed, my daughter started pushing herself out and I told the nurse and she left me in the labour ward and told me “we don’t give birth standing” I asked her “I’m speaking with you, how can I be pushing and speaking?” Her head was out but her shoulders got stuck long enough for me to get onto a bed. 2:45 I was done but scared because I almost lost her.
Third and last birth – 2022
My pregnancy was calculated to be 42 weeks, 2:29 am my water burst on a Friday. I got up, got changed and back to bed because I was not feeling pains. Around 11 am I went to the clinic and my pregnancy is now 39 weeks but I was told no water came out. Labour pains started at 8 pm, I tried sleeping but the pains got worse. My running tummy started at 9 pm and the pains got worse. At 1 am I called my Mom and told her I can’t bare the pain any longer. She gave me a bath because I had round ligament pain. My muscles gave in every 2 steps. Got to the clinic around 3 and the ill treatment was out of this world. I was told to get onto the and let the pains kill me, lay on my left, I did just that and when I called the nurse and her I felt I wanted to do the number 2 she politely said “it’s the baby relax”. I also took her calmly and continued suffering. As she was passing by, my daughter’s head was crowning but she told me to get off the bed and walk to the labour ward, but as soon as I laid on my back my daughter flew out. I was told I pushed before time, but I didn’t push her, she just jumped out, with her sac.
Giving birth in South African Government clinics is torture because nurses don’t love their jobs, they are just there to get paid. Pre-Democracy nurses loved their jobs and they were very patient
