Berbice RHO clarifies circumstances over newborn held by authorities after home delivery

Regional Health Officer (RHO) of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Dr Vineshri Khirodhar has broken her silence on the case of the newborn baby who was reportedly removed from the New Amsterdam Hospital without the family’s knowledge, clarifying that the child was taken into protective custody following welfare recommendations – not by the hospital acting on its own.
On Wednesday, a Corentyne grandmother told this publication that she was pleading with authorities to return her newborn grandson after the infant was reportedly uplifted from the New Amsterdam Public Hospital by someone unknown to the family. The incident has left the child’s mother in distress, and the family is demanding answers from the Child Protection Agency (CPA).
Shanti Sookoo, 43, of Miss Phoebe, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), said she last saw her grandson on Thursday, November 28, 2025. When she returned to the hospital the following day for her routine visit, she was told that the baby had already been signed out and collected earlier that morning.
“I just want my grandchild back,” the emotional grandmother told this publication. “This is my first grandchild. I raised four children myself. I know how to look after a baby. They can come and see how we live. This house strong and big. Nothing is wrong with it.”

Baby delivered at home after hospital visit
According to Sookoo and her 20-year-old daughter, Keshma Jagdeo, the ordeal began after Jagdeo visited the Port Mourant Public Hospital on October 22, believing she was ready to deliver.
Jagdeo was reportedly given an injection and told the pregnancy was not yet due. She was also instructed that when the time came, she should go directly to the New Amsterdam Hospital, not Port Mourant.
However, in the early hours of the next morning, around 01:00h, the young mother went into labour inside her bedroom at home.
“When she done cut out the navel string, then she call me and tell me that the baby done born.”
Meanwhile, the 20-year-old speaking with the publication said she was confident in cutting the umbilical cord even though no one told her about it.
Sookoo said she quickly wrapped the newborn with a sheet and took both mother and child to the Port Mourant Hospital, which is about five minutes walking from her home.
The young mother and child were later transferred to New Amsterdam Hospital, where Jagdeo is said to have spent one day before being discharged – without her baby.
According to the 43-year-old grandmother, when she went to visit her grandson at the New Amsterdam Hospital on Friday, she was told that someone had signed and uplifted the infant earlier in the day. The previous day was the last time she saw her grandson.
Officers from the CPA reportedly visited the home before the birth of the baby, as both Sookoo and Jagdeo receive Government public assistance.
Sookoo makes a small income by collecting unwanted clothes in the community and selling them as rags to the mechanic shop of the Albion Sugar Estate, while Jagdeo assists shoppers to fetch their bags at the Port Mourant Market on Saturdays.
The grandmother insists she is capable of taking care of her grandchild.
“They said I wouldn’t be able to care for the baby and that someone else should take the child,” she said.

Adequate home, says family
During this publication’s visit to the family’s residence, Sookoo allowed access inside the house as she stood cooking in the small wooden kitchen. She insisted the home – a typical large older wooden Corentyne house – is more than adequate.
“This is a big, big house,” she said. “Some of the places they allow babies to stay is worse than here. Why they saying my home not good enough?”
Jagdeo, who left school in Grade Eight after she was bullied, said she remains confused about what happened to her child.
She expressed confidence that she acted correctly during the unexpected home delivery. “Nobody teach me, but I know how to cut the cord,” she said quietly.
The family said they have not returned to the CPA office at Whim since the baby disappeared from the hospital, but they intend to seek clarification as soon as possible.
Sookoo is now calling on the Ministry of Human Services, CPA officials, and the New Amsterdam Hospital administration to explain how the newborn was released without the knowledge or permission of his mother or grandmother.
“I want to know who signed for that baby,” she said.

Childcare and Protection Agency
Addressing the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) on Thursday, Dr Khirodhar rejected suggestions that hospital officials acted improperly. She explained that the mother did not deliver at a health facility despite advice from medical staff.
“The mother took it upon herself to deliver herself at her home, severing the child’s umbilical cord by herself under insanitary conditions, taking a grave risk against the nurse and doctor’s advice,” she said.
Dr Khirodhar further disclosed that the woman has several children and that the family had previous interactions with welfare authorities, prompting doctors to involve the CPA.
“This mother also had several other kids that the welfare would have investigated, and the decision was taken by the doctors to call in the welfare officers,” she stated.
According to the RHO, while the mother was discharged because she was stable, the child was kept for observation and later placed into protective care based on welfare recommendations, not by the hospital acting independently.
“The RHO does not have a say in what welfare officers decide. Our job is to keep the child, treat the child, manage the child, and make sure the child is held,” she clarified.
Dr Khirodhar assured councillors and the public that once the welfare process is complete, the family will be officially updated.