The Pretoria midwife Yolande Maritz, who allegedly caused several babies to either die or be born disabled, will finally appear in the court later this month.
Maritz, a disgraced and deregistered nurse, will finally face prosecution for allegedly administering medication to pregnant women that is suspected of causing birth complications. AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit (PPU) has been pressuring the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to enrol the case.
Two mothers who are allegedly victims of Maritz’s conduct, Carien Möller and Alysia von Kloëg, have also been on a quest for justice.
Maritz has been summoned to appear in court on July 24 on assault charges.
Möller and Von Kloëg filed criminal complaints in 2020 and 2022 respectively, claiming that birthing complications under Maritz’s care led to the death of the Von Kloëg’s boy nine days after his birth, and left Möller’s daughter with cerebral palsy.
In 2021, Maritz was found guilty of negligent and unprofessional behaviour by the SA Nursing Council and deregistered as a midwife.
Her appeal against the finding was dismissed.
The PPU started engagements with the NPA in January last year after the pair expressed concern about the case’s slow progress and the NPA’s lack of communication.
It is alleged that five babies had died and several had been left severely disabled at the hands of Maritz over a four-year period.
Möller and the Von Kloëg couple earlier respectively laid charges of culpable homicide and attempted murder with the SAPS against Maritz after alleged negligence during the births.
Maritz allegedly exceeded the recommended dose of certain medication by giving Möller two tablets at once, after which she began experiencing severe contractions, and her baby went into shock during the birth.
The police investigation into the unnatural death of the Von Kloëg couple’s son followed allegations that Maritz did not heed the parents’ concerns about abnormalities during the sonar scan done at 24 weeks.
Von Kloëg claimed that Maritz gave her tablets that appeared to be sedatives, and several minutes later she started having contractions. Their son was born about an hour later.
Von Kloëg said she knew something was wrong because her little boy was breathing abnormally and didn’t make a sound.
The story of Maritz’s alleged conduct was first exposed in 2020 by Carte Blanche. However, it took the parents several years to get to the point of Maritz having to answer to the allegations against her in court.
Pretoria News