GPHC continues probe into death of 17-year-old – Dr Rambarran

Oct 20, 2009 News

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Her grandson turned 17 days old yesterday and Ms Debra Armstrong is saddened that he will never be able to see his mother – her daughter, Tandica Williams, who died days after giving birth.
Although she has buried her daughter and has come to the realisation that life goes on, Armstrong and other members of her family are stilling seeking for answers into what they believe was an “untimely death.”
The woman related that although she was offered a complex explanation she still has not been able to gain full understanding of what exactly caused her daughter to die four days after giving birth. Williams, according to reports, died on Wednesday October 7, while a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. The incident was published in this newspaper the following day.
A senior management official of the hospital had told this newspaper, the same day of publication that an investigation into the matter had commenced. However, the official had declined to comment further, adding that on completion of the investigation a release will be made available detailing the findings.
Dr Madan Rambaran, Director of Medical and Professional Services at the public hospital informed this newspaper yesterday that the investigation continues more than one week after its commencement. He said that the investigation into the matter is being done meticulously and has not yet concluded, thus he was not in a position to offer a public comment on the available findings.
This newspaper was informed that since Williams’ death, which was deemed clinical in nature, Dr Rambaran has taken up the sole responsibility to investigate the matter after which a report should be submitted to the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Mr Michael Khan.
Williams, who resided at Meadow Bank, East Bank Demerara, had given birth to a healthy baby boy at the public hospital on Saturday October 3. She was admitted the previous night. However, according to Armstrong, the medical officials had had some difficulty in their attempts to remove her daughter’s afterbirth.
The woman is of the belief that while efforts were made to remove the afterbirth, it still was not completely removed, a development she feels could have led to her daughter’s untimely demise.
“She (Williams) tell me that some fat nurse was using her knee to press her stomach area to help remove the afterbirth…but like not everything come down. She said that the nurse said that she had to do that before it (afterbirth) fly up and kill she (Williams).”
Nonetheless, Williams appeared to be well enough and was discharged three days later. However, Armstrong related that her daughter developed a dreadful pain in her upper stomach area which saw her being re-admitted to the hospital the same day. “She came home walking and everything was good but… she started crying out for this pain in she stomach. So I say no sense I keep her here because I is not a doctor or a nurse.”
Armstrong said that upon her daughter’s admission to the hospital, an x-ray was done and a decision was made to monitor her closely. The woman said that she confidently left her daughter in the care of the hospital officials around 05:00 hours. It was around 09:00 hours the following day that she got a call from her daughter who was requesting to come home. “She just tell me she want me come now, now, now. So I go back and I see she. She was just delirious talking all sorts of madness. I tell she I can’t carry she home like this…I seh the doctors here and they can look at you.”
Armstrong said that she later learnt that her daughter’s heart had stopped. This, she said, led to medical officials trying desperately to revive her. The woman said that her daughter was taken to the Intensive Care Unit.
Her efforts to find out about her daughter’s condition were fruitless until a doctor advised her to speak with a nurse. “I asked the nurse, how is she? And she seh that she coming to come so I said okay. She tell me go home and rest and take care of the baby and she would call me if anything happens.”
Williams continues to take care of her grandson.
It was around 19:30 hours on October 7, Armstrong recounted, that she received a telephone call from the nurse informing her that her child was dead. No reason for her death was offered at the time, the woman added.
She eventually learnt from a doctor that her daughter had developed an internal infection.
According to Williams’ aunt, Josephine Armstrong, she arrived soon after her niece’s demise and observed her lifeless and swollen body on a bed. The woman recalled that she saw a pan of blood nearby and proceeded to pick up her niece’s belongings after she was told she was dead. “I see my niece she had a tube with cotton wool in her mouth and her neck, face and right arm were swollen…she was just about 100 pounds and if you see how she swell…I ask the nurse what is the meaning of this and she say I have to speak with the doctor…”
The family of the now deceased teenager is anxiously awaiting the revelation of the investigation.

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