Premature baby dies after delivery at city hospital

…young mother wants answers

A family of Bent Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown is demanding answers after a young woman lost her newborn at a private hospital.
On Wednesday, family members lashed out at the well-known medical facility for being more concerned about making money rather than saving lives.
Twenty-year-old Tamera Leslie, a teacher of Lot 53 Bent Street Wortmanville, Georgetown, is calling on the Health Ministry to conduct a thorough investigation into the death of her newborn daughter. It was the young mother’s first child, and she told this publication that it has been a terrifying experience.

Leslie explained that she started to experience labour pains and decided to visit the Georgetown Hospital, but when she arrived, she was made to wait for some time, and, as such, she made a decision to seek private medical care.
The woman recalled that when she arrived at the private hospital, she was taken into a room, where she was questioned by a doctor on duty. She said that, shortly after, she was seen by a midwife in a separate room, who continued to question her.
Leslie recalled that she was put to lie down, and the nurse began examining her. At that time, she was told that she was in active labour, and that her child, the membrane and her water bag were intact.
Shortly after, she said, she was told that the mucus plug had come out, and the baby’s head was downwards, and she was ready to deliver.
“She told me that I have to push the baby out, and I told her, ‘No problem’. She asked me how much months I am at, and I told her six months. She then watched at me and told me that I have to deliver the baby, but she is not going to live. I left baffled at why the baby was not going to live…,” the woman said.
The teacher posited that she was instructed to push as soon as she got a contraction, and she complied.
“While I was pushing, she took her finger and was moving it around and pulling. I know that isn’t supposed to be, especially if the baby head was down. I can’t be pushing and you pulling at the same time. Apparently, she didn’t expect the baby to be so big, so she stopped and then she told me to start pushing again,” Leslie explained.
Leslie said that after the nurse delivered her newborn daughter, she placed the infant on a blanket. Leslie insists that at that time the newborn was breathing.
“The baby was breathing. I saw my baby breathing, because I saw her foot was moving and rib cage was going in and out, so I know that she was breathing… She put her on the blanket, she started wrapping her, and she was still breathing. When she was finished, she put the baby next to me and she said that the hospital doesn’t keep dead babies; what I will do with it”, Leslie said.
The young woman related that she explained to the midwife that she was not sure what to do, since it was her first pregnancy. She claimed that during the entire episode, the nurse’s phone kept ringing, and she would stop to take the call.
Leslie further highlighted that after the midwife had delivered the baby, the nurse informed her that the baby had died.
“She didn’t even take me to the delivery room, because that is where they would usually have the oxygen and the incubators… My baby was alive, but how they put it over on the paper was like it was a still birth”.
The young woman contended that employees at the hospital repeatedly questioned whether the family could pay for certain services before they were administered or offered.
In fact, she said, the nurse asked if the family could afford to pay for an incubator, which would have helped to save the infant’s life.
“She kept asking me if I can afford to stay a night here, and get the incubator and so on. In my mind, I am saying, ‘Why is she focusing on if I can afford it? If I couldn’t afford it, I wouldn’t have gone to private’.”
The woman added that her daughter was not confirmed dead by a doctor, and the hospital refused to give her any document to confirm the child’s death.
She said she was told that she cannot get any official confirmation because the child does not have a name, and she was not a part of the hospital’s clinic.
The family is demanding answers, and they are calling for better oversight into how private healthcare facilities are operating.
Meanwhile, when contacted Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Narine Singh related that he was not aware of the incident, but noted that in cases of maternal deaths, hospitals are required to produce a report within 24 hours.
“If it is an infant, they have to report it, but we haven’t received a report about it. Now that it (is) all over the media, we will ask them to submit a report. When they send that report, we will then launch an investigation”, he said.
Dr Narine added that other than waiting on the hospital to send a report, the family of the dead child can make a complaint at the Ministry of Health, and they will take it from there.