Probe underway into premature baby’s death at West Demerara Hospital

Investigations are now ongoing into the circumstances surrounding the recent death of a premature baby at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence has said.

Lawrence, in an invited comment, told Stabroek News that the ministry is aware of the case and has since commenced an investigation.

The Ministry of Public Health has come under scrutiny for its silence on the images and video of what appeared to be a live premature baby in a bedpan that were circulated on social media two Saturdays ago by a distressed relative of the baby’s parents, who related that staff at the hospital were callous in their handling of the child.

The ministry’s Public Relations Officer Terrence Esseboom had said last week that the ministry’s Maternal and Child Health Unit was