“No help, no love” – grieving Venezuelan mother on treatment at GPHC while giving birth

…says “this should not happen in any hospital, in any country”

Distraught after a seven-hour labour, Mayhelm González, who had a stillborn daughter, is blaming the heartbreaking outcome on the treatment she endured at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
In an interview with Guyana Times on Monday, the 32-year-old Venezuelan recounted the tragic loss of her daughter, describing the pain and alleged negligence she experienced at the hospital.

According to González, who has been living in Guyana for five years, she began experiencing signs of labour on Saturday, January 18. She arrived at the hospital around 11:00h.
“When the doctor checked me, he said, “You’re ready; the baby is coming.”
González alleged that during her time at the hospital, she faced disrespectful treatment from the staff while enduring excruciating pain.
“When I arrived and cried, the nurse told me in Spanish, ‘Callate,’ which means ‘quiet.’ I responded in English, ‘Why did you tell me to be quiet? I am here to give birth to a baby, not an animal.”
The woman added that while she struggled with labour, she also had to deal with emotional and verbal abuse.
“This pain was very hard for me. They just kept telling me, ‘Quiet, quiet, don’t say anything. just push,” she stated whilst describing the movements the doctors were making on her belly.
González alleged that at one point, a doctor pressed their elbow into her belly and told her that if she did not push, her baby would die.
“There were three doctors in total. Two had their hands inside of me, while another pressed on my belly, telling me to push. I kept pushing, and nothing happened. Then they left me alone for another 30 minutes.”
The distressed mother, speaking through tears, recounted how a nurse did the same thing to her.
“They told me, ‘You’re not following instructions. If you don’t push, your baby will die.’ I told them, ‘I’m pushing! I don’t want my baby to die! Please help me.”
González, who operates a business at City Mall, said she waited several hours before begging the doctors for a cesarean section (C-section). Despite being unable to move, the doctors reportedly forced her to walk to another bed on her own for the surgery.
She claimed her baby was born at 19:00h but the hospital allegedly falsified the birth report, stating the baby was born at 18:00h.
“When I saw the paper, I knew it was a lie. My baby was born at 7 o’clock, and the doctors know this. They are lying.”
The doctors’ report stated that the baby succumbed to hypoxia, which is caused by low oxygen levels in body tissues.
González, who has a five-year-old son born at the same hospital, said she was shocked at the drastic difference in treatment this time.
“I don’t know what has happened now…there was no help, no love. This should not happen in any hospital, in any country.”
González also recounted seeing other women at the hospital who lost their babies.
“Another woman lost her baby too. The baby was dead when it was delivered. She was in the hospital for four days, and when the baby came out, it was gone. The nurses told her to stay quiet.”
She added, “It’s very hard. You wait for your baby, and your baby dies. And no one helps you. This is not real life. It’s heartbreaking.”
The grieving mother called on Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali to intervene to improve the situation at the GPHC.
“President Irfaan Ali, you need to personally check this problem. This problem continues every day. Please, help me and help others,” the woman said.
An investigation into the matter has been launched by the GPHC.
González, a mother to a five-year-old boy, lives in Guyana with her husband, a deliveryman. The couple moved to Guyana in search of better opportunities.