Couple blames Berbice hospital for death of newborn

Jul 27, 2018 News

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A couple of Lot 1 A Campbell Street, Hampshire Village are mourning the loss of their baby after the child died at the New Amsterdam Hospital during childbirth. They are blaming the doctors and nurses for neglect as the cause of the infant’s death.
Naomi Madramootoo, 24, who also has another child, told this publication via telephone that her amniotic sack broke last Friday night at approximately 10:30 hrs and from that point, herself and husband decided to rush to the Port Mourant Hospital where a doctor checked her and concluded that she had already dilated 5 centimetres and an ambulance was summoned to take her to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Madramootoo said that she checked in at 11:55 and at that time she was having “serious contractions”. She said the midwife on duty checked her and she was still dilated at 5 centimetres. At approximately 2:30 am, “my contractions had increased and I was telling the nurse that I feel something coming and she kept telling me to relax, breath in and out and that I am not ready. I followed her instructions but I was screaming in pain and they had not checked me back to see how much I dilated since I checked in. I was having the urge to push the baby. The nurses were with another patient in the delivery room and they were talking and laughing and I was in excruciating pain”.
The young mother said that she asked to speak with a doctor since she felt that she could no longer deliver her baby naturally, but by way of a cesarean. She said that in her previous pregnancy she had some minor complications to deliver her 3lb baby naturally, she eventually did with a few slits during the process. This pregnancy she said, the baby was 8lbs.  ”When I asked to speak with a doctor, the midwife told me that the doctor left already, not knowing she was right in the room and did not tend to me when I requested. I learnt this after the whole episode. I asked to speak with my relatives and they told me that there was no need to, I asked to speak to my husband and the midwife said ‘whatever you want to tell your husband you can tell me’. But I told them I wanted a c-section and the nurse told me that I am no doctor to say I want that and the other nurses were saying ‘what she want that for”, Madramootoo recounted.
Her husband, Ravin Madramootoo recounted that after hearing her screams and crying, he asked the nurse if they could be allowed a self discharge so that he could take his wife to a private hospital, but he was told that “we have everything under control, the baby is on the way”. This was at approximately 4:30 am.
At 5:30 am Madramootoo was taken to the delivery room and when checked she had dilated to 10 cm and the nurses told her she was ready to give birth. She said her baby was still alive during that time since they checked the infant’s heartbeat and he was moving. It was after several attempts to “push the baby out” that it was accepted that she could not give birth naturally. The doctor instructed the nurses to prepare Madramootoo for a cesarean.
”After they prepared me for c-section, I could still feel my baby moving and so, but then I waited. An hour passed and new nurses and so were coming in to take over the day shift, another half hour passed, but then I was feeling movements. The doctor came with the midwife around 9:00 and when they checked for the baby’s heartbeat they heard nothing. The doctor called two other doctors and they checked for heartbeat and wasn’t finding any. I already knew my baby died,” the tearful woman said.
She divulged that shortly after she was taken into the operating theatre for surgery. Afterwards she was transported to the recovery room where she kept asking to see her child.
”I asked her how was the baby, even though deep down I knew what happened. A doctor came and said the baby died. I didn’t get to see my child until Tuesday, four days later. The baby was a full eight pounds. They told my relatives that they took me into the operating room at 8:00, that’s not true, I went in there till 9:00″, Madramootoo stated.
According to her, they denied the option of a post mortem, since they were confused and still in shock, but explained that “forgiveness is important” and at that time they accepted that the baby had died and were only concerned about giving their child a decent burial. She however said that she believes that her child would have been alive if they had given her the cesarean when she requested it.
Her husband said, “I am depressed and I blame the hospital”. He stated that the last ultrasound done showed that all was well and his wife was not a high-risk patient. They are asking that the relevant authorities intervene to sanction those who dealt with Naomi Madramootoo.
The couple is expected to file an official complaint with health services in Berbice.

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