Mum breaks leg after nurse forces her to walk after labour

It’s the last thing any mum would want to happen after enduring hours of labour, but one Auckland woman was left with a broken leg after she claims a nurse forced her to walk soon after she gave birth to her first child.

New mum Shina Ali’s joy over welcoming her son Isaac with husband Zaoheb Mohammed soon turned to pain after she fell and fractured her right tibia at Middlemore Hospital last month.

The 27-year-old had given birth to her son in the late afternoon, after having an epidural at midday.

Shina’s midwife stayed with the new mum until 9.30pm, before handing her care over to a staff nurse with the instruction she could be transferred to a maternity care centre after she had regained feeling in her numb right leg.

However Shina claims the nurse soon made her get up, despite her protests.

"Once the midwife left, the staff nurse, she started forcing me to walk," Shina told the Herald on Sunday.

"She asked me to go and have my shower so I tried to get off the bed but I fell halfway. My family was over so they helped me. They were so angry they made me sit on the chair and sponged me."

With Shina unable to stand unaided, the mum was then told around midnight that the ward was full and she needed to vacate the bed.

Despite her requests for a wheelchair, Shina wasn’t provided one and she fell as her family attempted to help her walk to her car, breaking her leg – which she admits she couldn’t even feel, because it was still numb.

The new mum was taken back into the maternity ward, and later underwent surgery to have a rod inserted into her leg.

Now, with doctors saying it will be four weeks before Shina can walk, and the stress of taking care of a newborn in her home which has stairs, the mum is determined to share her story.

“It would be great if more awareness is spread and people are aware of what is happening around us,” Shina told Be.

Herald on Sunday reports a full investigation has been launched.

"The nurse involved is very sorry that Mrs Ali has sustained this very unusual injury following an epidural and we are investigating the sequence of events," said Middlemore Hospital's clinical director obstetrics and gynaecology Dr Sarah Tout.

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