Families tussle over baby following teen mom’s death

Jul 18, 2011 News

– case still before Medical Council

The Guyana Medical Council is still investigating the death of Joanne Peters, the 17-year-old who died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in March after delivering a baby boy.
Kaieteur News was told by an official from the Council that the medical body will only comment on the matter after the investigation is complete.
The teen’s mother, Ann Peters, had given the Medical Council a statement and had also sought the advice of an attorney.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Peters had indicated that she is attempting to acquire custody of her grandson.
The child is in the care of the young father and his family, and Ms. Peters says she does not believe that he can adequately take care of her grandson.
But the father of the child and his relatives have refuted any suggestions that the baby is not receiving adequate care, and also indicated that they intend to fight to retain custody of the baby.

The teen mother’s baby

Joanne Peters, a US citizen who also resided at Craig, East Bank Demerara, died at the GPHC seven days after delivering a baby boy.
A medical report obtained by Kaieteur News revealed that although the teen was bleeding profusely after her delivery, a shortage of B-positive blood at the GPHC prevented her from having the transfusions she required. But the teen’s mother is alleging that hospital staff had never informed her of this situation. She also claimed that both her husband and a son have B-positive blood, and would have donated same for the teen’s transfusion.
Mrs. Peters said she visited the GPHC on March 18, and at the time, her daughter was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She appeared to be unconscious. According to the woman, a nurse informed her that the teen’s condition was critical and that she had lost a lot of blood.
She alleged that while the staff assured her that Joanne “was getting blood”, she did not observe any ‘blood bags’ near her daughter’s bed. She said the teen’s condition remained the same until she passed away on March 26.
Mrs. Peters said that her daughter’s death certificate gave hemorrhage as the cause of death.
The report obtained stated that Peters, who had a history of lower abdominal pains, was admitted to the GPHC on March 16 at 18.30 hrs. She displayed no medical problems on admission, and all her vital signs were normal.
At 19:33 hrs, a medical intern, aided by a qualified midwife, delivered a live baby boy. At this point, the teen was observed to be bleeding, and an intravenous infusion was set up.
The report noted that Peters had lost 600 millilitres of blood, and that she was prepared for surgery in the Main Operating Theatre. It stated that there was “unavailability of adequate B positive blood for this patient with massive PPH (Post Partum Hemorrhage) at the national referral hospital.”
There were tears to the entrance of the uterus and sections of the vagina. These were repaired but there was “ongoing bleeding from the uterus… continued…a total of three litres,” the report said.
A decision was made to have the patient undergo surgery to have her uterus removed. It is estimated that the patient lost a total of four litres of blood.
Peters suffered massive post partum hemorrhage, and was transferred to the ICU, where she suffered from cardiac arrest.
The report stated that on March 19, Peters was diagnosed to have suffered Hypoxia Ischaemic brain injury. She passed away at around 16:20 hrs.
The report recommended that the case be reviewed by the Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
Mrs. Peters said that her daughter’s death certificate gave hemorrhage as the cause of death.

Joanne Peters

Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy had told Kaieteur News that the GPHC has some 8,000 units of blood, which is below the 12,000 units that the hospital needs.