Hearing the first cry of their baby is one of the most treasured and memorable moments for new mothers giving birth but an unfamiliar experience for deaf women.
However, a patient service that brings sign language interpretation into doctors' rooms and maternity units has made special moments such as birth and having sonogram scans extra special for some public healthcare users in the Western Cape.
According to the provincial department of health, providing sign language and other interpretation services such as telephonic interpretation to patients with language barriers, has become an integral part of healthcare provision to ensure the inclusion of all and encouraging clear communication between healthcare workers and patients.
The department has seen an increased demand for interpretation since it introduced this service recently and to date has handled at least 5,309 tele-interpreting calls and 1,456 sign language sessions at various public healthcare facilities.
“Since adding sign language interpreting to the service there has been an exponential increase in the utilisation of sign language at facilities as the deaf community embraces this service even more.
“The interpreters have also assisted many deaf mothers throughout their pregnancy journey, as well as during labour. Imagine going though childbirth in silence ... not only are all the doctors and nurses speaking around you and giving instructions, but you are also not able to hear your baby’s first cry. The sign language interpreters allow new deaf mothers to somewhat experience these amazing moments.”
The department said it wants to understand and know what’s wrong with patients who visit its facilities, and it understood the strain many people go through trying to understand or ‘speak health’ — an experience that can be overwhelming at times, especially when it's in their fourth or fifth language.
It said this person-centric approach is providing “hope and optimism” for patients unable to express themselves when going to clinics or hospitals.
Beraldene Claassen’s son is a patient at Red Cross Children’s Hospital and is one of many patients who have been able to receive the care they need in the language they understand. “Signing was an obstacle for us. Without this service at the hospital, we wouldn’t be able to communicate with our son and identify the health challenges and we would not have got as far as we have today,” she said.
Allowing patients to speak in their mother tongue not only establishes a trusting relationship between the healthcare worker, patient and the interpreter, but the three-way communication system “lays the foundation for clear communication to obtain and relay critical information in diagnosis, the treatment plan, and for follow-up care”, the department said.
The tele-interpreting languages available include all South African languages and, Arabic, Shona, Somali, Swahili, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
Sixty-year-old Lawrence Alberts, a patient at Bishop Lavis community day centre, said while he always felt anxious when visiting the clinic, “there is always so much relief as soon as I see my interpreter”.
“The interpreter really allows for in-depth communication so that the doctor or nurse knows what I need. I have my health problems, but I am healthy, and this service ensures I get the right information from the doctor or nurse about my treatment.”
When patients walk into health facilities and are unable to communicate with receptionists they can simply point out the language of their choice on a poster and ask to be connected to an interpreter.
At Plettenberg Bay Clinic, nurse Alfonso Swarts, extols the value this service brings to health care. “They (patients) appreciate the communication in their own language and then also understand it better.”
When he needed to speak to a Xhosa-speaking patient, Swarts said all he did was pick up the phone and make use of an isiXhosa interpreter to relay crucial information pertaining to the patient’s treatment.
An interpreter said the best part of her job was to communicate the feelings of a deaf woman in labour, who are often relieved to have their fears, thoughts and feelings acknowledged.
“One of my favourite parts is interpreting the first cry. It’s every mom’s dream to hear their child’s first cry. The way they smile when you interpret that cry is priceless.
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