The issue of labour and childbirth

Jan 29, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
The January 27 report in your daily could hardly be the conclusion of a clear case of negligence in which a young woman, Luan Rodney, died during childbirth. The Minister of Health’s ready acquiescence to a flawed judgment is not surprising. His political instincts have always been known to be greater than his clinical acumen.
Based on a previous report on this case, the woman died during the early hours of the morning. It had been alleged by her relatives that labour was induced in the early evening hours using the drug cytotec. It was also alleged that she died in spite of her complaints.
It has to be amazing that a previously militant Medical Association has no view on these matters of overt negligence. Twenty five years ago the public health services would not have gone unnoticed by the then astute medical fraternity. It however is a reflection of the fact that the country has become matt philistine than then.
It has been traditional that labour in non-emergency situations is induced during the morning/daytime nursing shift when patients have maximum access to the largest number of staff on duty. Generally in rational environments induction of labour in non emergency situations ceases in the evening and resumes in the morning hours for the simple common sense reason that there is more staff during the waking hours of the day to properly monitor patients.
This situation reflects a failure of supervisory management. (It is not surprising though, as it is the same reason why the sugar industry is failing and the police are on the loose doing as they feel.) It is time the Minister and his colleagues recognize that management is a real science as it introduces the concept of accountability.
The late Mohamed Y. Bacchus must be turning in his grave at the feeble attempts by the Minister to obfuscate this issue with irrelevant descriptions of a drug which is of devastating value when not used with common sense as has happened before.
The hospitals need to invest in a culture of sound internal management and accountability with appropriate political oversight and less political excuses as if every case of bad news is a potential political disaster.
‘The political intervention only helps matters not to be properly evaluated and to allow these puerile mistakes to continue as occurred with the unwarranted death of this young woman.
Ralph Benjamin

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The issue of labour and childbirth

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