BY ERIC MATOME KGOMO
BETHAL: Two police officers, Sergeant Itumeleng Motalane (39) and Constable Tilane Lebitsa (29), both stationed at Bethal SAPS, have been hailed as heroines after they went beyond the call of duty by assisting a woman to give birth near the police station gate.
Colonel Donald Mdhluli, Mpumalanga Provincial Police Spokesperson, said the incident happened on Monday 19 April 2021. “It is reported that a member of the public, who was at the Community Service Centre (CSC) to seek assistance, noticed a heavily pregnant woman walking near the police station crying for help. He then alerted Sergeant Motalane about the situation,” he said.
Mdhluli said, the brave Motalane, who has four children of her own, together with her male colleagues, immediately left everything they were doing, rushed outside and found the 35-year-old woman with her husband as well as her sister. “The woman was screaming due to excruciating labour pains. Noticing that she was about to give birth, Motalane, who at that time was joined by Constable Lebitsa, acted as midwives and assisted the woman deliver her fourth healthy baby boy,” Mdhluli informed. Mdhluli indicated that after the baby was born, the officers took the mother and her baby to Bethal Hospital for medical assessment where they were then admitted whereby the child was examined and declared healthy and strong. Narrating the incident, Sergeant Motalane said: “It was 18:00, after I reported on duty for a night shift, when a client informed us about the incident. I had my male colleagues in the Community Service Centere and they told me that I was the only one to help the woman deliver her baby. At that time, I had no hand gloves and there was no time to search for one as someone was in pain. I had to risk my life for the sake of the woman and the baby she was carrying,” she said.
The sergeant indicated that her only fear was that she had never been confronted with that type of a challenge before as all her four children were born at the hospital. “I told myself that I have to confront my fears and remedy the situation. After I helped the woman giving birth, she was in severe cold and was shivering. I then requested my colleague, Constable Lebitsa to get a blanket from her room as she is staying at the police barracks. I was so confused that I could not even hear the baby crying,” emphasized Motalane. She indicated that her male colleagues, who stood a few metres away, were very happy and made screams ululating that the child was alive. “That is when I started hearing the cries of the baby. My other challenge was the umbilical cord which hooked the mother and the baby, I had no idea how to separate them. I used my phone to Google for home birth information with specific reference to the umbilical cord. After sourcing, information, I then succeed but had to rush to the CSC to search for something to tie it. Luckily I got a shoelace which I sanitized, tied the umbilical cord and at that time, we were waiting for an ambulance to arrive as my male colleagues have already summoned it,” she said. However, Motalane said realizing that the ambulance was taking time to arrive, she asked Lebitsa to volunteer her bakkie so that they can take the woman as well as the baby to hospital. “Both the mother and the baby were declared fine except for the fact that the mother bled profusely and the hospital staff had to take care of that aspect,” said Motalane. The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the Police in Mpumalanga, Major General Thulani Phahla, hailed the brave police officers.
‘’ What brave soldiers we pride ourselves with. I really commend the members for going an extra mile in helping the woman to safely give birth to her baby. Police are often faced with strange and difficult situations but what we have realized is that, they are always equal to the task.’’ said Phahla.
