Mother deemed unfit to care for baby admitted to hospital

The mother who was deemed unfit to care for her three-month-old baby has been admitted a patient at the psychiatric ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).

Officers from the Child Care & Protection Agency (CCPA) in Region Five had first taken the woman, 23-year-old Abiola Yakene France of Sophia, Georgetown in search of her relatives.

When she was eventually able to locate the relatives, including a brother who is a prison officer, they refused to accept her or the baby.

They told the officers that the woman was in the habit of walking out for days at a time.

After that episode she was taken to the GPH for an “evaluation, which took a while. Based on the findings it was realized that a home may not be the best place for her…,” an officer told this newspaper.

The officers, who were thankful that the woman got help, had tried to locate her relatives after they found that she was unfit to care for the baby boy. They had placed him in the temporary care of a resident.

France had taken the baby to the Fort Wellington Hospital (FWH) last Friday to be treated for a severe rash about the body.

She subsequently visited the probation department to meet someone and during her conversation she related that a relative of the baby had “bathed him with trench water…”

Based on further questioning from the officers they decided to take her and the baby into their care. They were kept at the FWH until Monday night and on Tuesday the baby was placed in foster care.