DRUNK MUM FORGETS NEW BORN AT BAR

BHUNYA – A breastfeeding mother confessed to social welfare officers that she drank marula brew in order to produce milk for her newborn baby.
This is much against health warnings that such should be avoided because it could pass the alcohol onto the baby and inebriate her.

The woman, aged 35, who will not be named to protect her from stigmatisation, is on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and had not undergone the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) because of her nomadic lifestyle.

She is currently languishing at the Mawelawela Correctional Facility where she was arrested for allegedly failing to protect the baby under the provisions of the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2012.

Imbibe

Her arrest was sparked by an alleged act of leaving the three-week-old baby outside the bar while she joined friends to imbibe marula brew in a bar at Bhunya.
Police had to rope in the services of Social Welfare Officers to determine the cause of the mother’s actions and to suggest possible interventions. It was during a fact finding interview that the mother made the startling confession that depicted a life of poverty and dejection.

According to social welfare records, trouble started when the baby’s parents went separate ways, while the mother was one-month pregnant with her. Reasons for the separation are expected to come out when the matter is brought to court for trial.

Complaining

Then, the mother was kicked out of her parental home after she did not see eye-to-eye with her biological mother on her lifestyle. Her parental home is in LaMgabhi, near Mbabane.

The baby’s mother moved to Madikizela, in Bhunya, where she fell in love with another man and they stayed together in a stick and mud hut. Then troubles escalated when the new boyfriend, it was alleged, started complaining about the presence of the baby in the house.
The boyfriend works at the nearby Montingy. 

The mother, who will be referred to as Londiwe*, related to friends how she had no food in the house to feed herself and the baby, as stated in the documents.
On Monday February 25, the mother was arrested in a drinking spot at Bhunya, where she had carried the baby along with her.
Intoxicated

‘‘Patrons at the bar said she was intoxicated, while carrying the baby during the marula season. They said she had gone outside to urinate and had put the baby aside during the process.
“When she stood up to retur

n to the bar, she must have forgotten that she was carrying the baby girl because she left her there until the baby was found by other patrons who were milling outside a few hours after the mother had left it. They called the police, who arrived and fetched her from the bar, where they sternly rebuked her for negligence,” said a witness who was at the bar on the fateful day of Londiwe’s arrest.

Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the arrest of the woman and said the child had been removed from her care and taken to a place of safety which she chose not to identify for security reasons.
Her charge sheet reads: “The accused person did wrongfully, unlawfully and intentionally abuse and expose her baby, a Swazi female minor, three-weeks-old to a dangerous environment (a bar hall), while she was enjoying liquor, and further abandoned her outside the bar, thus exposing her to harm and danger.”
Separated
Londiwe told Social Welfare officers that she had no idea about the whereabouts of the child’s biological father, as it has been about nine months since they separated.
She said she was drinking marula in the bar because she needed to eat something in order to breastfeed the baby.
The case is currently awaiting a trial date, but Londiwe is being remanded in custody on a weekly basis, while the first remand was at the Manzini Magistrates Court two weeks ago, where she was remanded in custody by Magistrate Philisiwe Simelane.
Contacted for expert advice Dr Vlom Vertus of the Women and Children Clinic in Manzini said there was low possibility that marula could help the woman to increase production of breast milk.
“I can’t find any scientific evidence to that effect,” he said without elaborating.
Neglected
Principal Secretary in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Officer Khangeziwe Mabuza said the incident had not been related to her office, but after hearing the story, could conclude that her officials were right to remove her  baby from the care of the mother.
 “As a matter of fact it is the mother who neglected the baby, and our duty at Social Welfare is to protect the vulnerable to avoid the loss of life. We thank the police for acting promptly in this incident,” she said.
*Londiwe is not her real name.

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