Baby dies at Day Care

Apr 16, 2014 News

– “shocked” mother says child was healthy

Investigators are probing the sudden demise of a four-month-old boy at the Mothers’ Union Day Care Centre on Robb Street, Georgetown, at around 09:55 hrs yesterday.

Dead: Four-month-old Phillip Anthony Pratt

The dead child has been identified as Phillip Anthony Pratt of 631 ‘A’ Field Sophia.
Police sources who viewed the infant’s body yesterday said that there were no visible marks, but they will await the results of a post mortem examination before making any pronouncements.
According to information received, one of the caretakers at the day care was about to move the infant from where he was lying when she discovered that he wasn’t breathing and there was “froth” around his nose.
The Day Care worker immediately informed her superior who then summoned the child’s mother, Philion Archer.
“When I got there, my baby wasn’t breathing and there was froth and blood around his nose. My only son was dead and they didn’t even call the ambulance, they waited on me when they could have rushed him to the hospital,” the woman cried.
The mother of three, who works at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, said that she registered her son to the day care two months ago.
She added that she dropped him off at the centre shortly after 07:00 hrs yesterday to go to work.
“Around 09:55, the head teacher called me to say that my child wasn’t breathing, so I took a taxi and I went there,” Archer explained. She added that when she enquired about her son’s condition, she wasn’t given any proper explanation.
“This is a shock. My son was healthy, he was never sick before and he was normal up to this morning. I fed him porridge (Nestum) and I gave him his tonic (Haliborange),” the mother recalled.

Philion Archer, the infant’s mother

Asked whether she was informed if anyone at the centre fed the infant before he passed away, the mother said, “They said that they didn’t feed him when I carried him.”
When this publication visited the day care, no one was willing to offer a comment. Persons inside the building closed the doors and windows, and a voice could be heard exclaiming, “Ask the mother what happened! She overfed the child!”
A post mortem will be done today.