Complaint lodged with medical council over maternal death

Jul 01, 2017 News

A complaint has been lodged with the Guyana Medical Council in lieu of legal proceedings intended to be brought against staff of the New Amsterdam Hospital over the death of an infant which occurred in May.
According to reports, the child’s parents Bibi Girdharry and Durel Hooper, of 90 Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam, Berbice have, through their attorneys, lodged a complaint with the Guyana Medical Council.
Girdharry made headlines in May after she alleged that the actions of staff of the hospital in New Amsterdam led to the death of her infant.
The correspondence sent to the medical council outlined that the 29- year-old woman was admitted to the New Amsterdam General Public Hospital when she was 41 weeks pregnant.
According to the information on May 23, last, about 11:45p.m., the woman reported that her amniotic sac (water) broke and she informed a nurse that she was going into labour.
Girdharry claimed that the nurse refused her request to be taken to the labour room as a result she had been left to experience intense pain to a point “where a green substance started to emit from her body.”
She had enquired of the nurse whether this was normal to which the nurse answered in the affirmative. But during this time, the woman noted that the baby stopped moving; she immediately became alarmed and informed the medical staff at the hospital.
“At approximately 12:30 p.m. the following day, there was no change in the situation. The patient then requested a Cesarean section. A doctor informed the patient, “We don’t butcher people.” During all this time, no one checked for the baby’s heartbeat.
At 3:45 p.m., the patient was taken to the theater and a Cesarean section was then performed. Upon regaining consciousness, the patient was informed that the child was “okay.”
However May, 24, 2017 the patient learnt that the baby could not breathe on its own and had to be transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
En route to Georgetown, Girdharry learnt that the baby had stopped breathing.
She said that on the morning of May 25, 2017, doctors at GPHC informed her for the first time that she too had a breathing problem.
The woman noted that prior to this she never suffered from a breathing problem, nor had any history of a breathing disorder.
An x-ray was done which showed that there was a mass on the woman’s right side stomach. A CT scan was done and it was discovered that on the patient’s right side lungs, there were blood clots.
Girdharry was subsequently informed that her baby had died.
“A Post mortem examination revealed that the baby had suffered neonatal lung distress and a severe brain edema.”
Given what they have described as gross medical negligence by the staff of the hospital, Girdharry and her partner have taken steps to retrieve her medical records from the New Amsterdam Hospital.
The couple will be filing legal proceedings against the Berbice Public Health facility.

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