Investigation conducted into death of Hampshire couple’s unborn child

An investigation has already been conducted into the death of the unborn child of a Hampshire couple at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital last weekend.

Jevaughn Stephens, Director of Regional Health Services in Region Six, told Sunday Stabroek that no official complaint was filed with his office but investigations are mandatory in such cases.

He noted that the regional investigation has already been completed. This publication was told that the findings have been forwarded to the Ministry of Public Health.

Naiomi Madramootoo and her husband recently called for an investigation of their child’s death, while accusing staff at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital of negligence. They have called on the Ministry of Public Health to launch a separate investigation and hold the medical professionals that were present accountable.

Madramootoo, 24, of Lot 1 A Campbell Street, Hampshire Village, Corentyne was admitted to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital on the night of July 20th. She said at that time she was told that she had already dilated to five centimeters.

Madramootoo that around 2 am on July 21st, her contractions began to increase rapidly, which led her to inform the nurse that she felt “something was coming.” However, the young mother of one said, the nurse told her to relax and that she was not ready to give birth.

The woman said the overbearing pain resulted in her starting to scream but to her surprise the nurse did not check on her to see whether she had dilated further. She said at that time while she was feeling the heavy urge to push out her baby, the nurses present were in the delivery unit with another patient.

Believing she could no longer deliver her baby on her own, she said she requested to speak with the doctor in charge to see if a C-Section was possible. However, she was told that the doctor had already left. She then requested to speak with her husband and relatives. However, she was told that whatever she wanted to tell her husband she could tell the nurse. “When I tell them I wanted a C-Section, she said I am no doctor to tell them what I want,” the woman noted.

Meanwhile, sometime after 5 am Madramootoo was taken to the delivery unit, since the nurses had then decided she was ready to give birth because they had checked her and discovered she had dilated to 10 cm. However, once in the delivery room the doctor present discovered that it was too late for the woman to give birth on her own after several tries, and ordered a C-Section. The woman stressed that at that time her child had a heartbeat when the doctor checked.

Madramootoo was prepared her for the operation but she said she was then left to wait without an explanation. She said the shift changed and other nurses with a midwife checked on her around 9 am Saturday and discovered that the baby had no heartbeat.