GPHC probing death of mother, unborn child

Nov 01, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Investigations are ongoing into the death of Navita Maraj, the 39-year-old mother of five, who died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Saturday morning.

Navita Maraj

Public Relations Officer (PRO) of GPHC, Chelauna Providence, has confirmed that the hospital is looking into the matter. She revealed nonetheless, that post mortem results have so far shown that the patient had severe anemia, multiple organ failure and a uterine rupture.

Maraj of Helena Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, died along with her unborn child on Saturday, while she was in labour at GPHC.

The woman was heavily pregnant and reportedly under observation at GPHC, two days before her death. Her common-law husband, Phillip James, 46, told Kaieteur News he became suspicious after receiving conflicting information about her demise. The man is now seeking answers as to what really transpired.

He told Kaieteur News that prior to Maraj’s hospitalisation, they had agreed that she would give birth via caesarean section. However, two days before her due date, the man said his wife attended the clinic at GPHC and she was told that she would not return home but be admitted to the hospital, where she would remain under observation until her time of delivery.

James related that, “Navita wanted to come home and go back to the hospital; she actually begged them to go home and come back because of her two small daughters, a seven-year-old and a five-year-old at home with her sister. She wanted to make sure they were okay but the clinic referred her to be admitted to the hospital.”

The distraught husband claimed too that the last time he spoke to his wife she was not experiencing any labour pains. “She was not experiencing any pain when they told her she had been admitted. The last time I went to see her was Friday morning and midday, she said she had no pain,” the man related. James said later that day, things took a turn for the worse as his wife explained to him that the Doctors had given her Oxytocin tablets to induce labour. The man claimed too that he is unsure what made the doctors decide to induce labour instead of do the C-section.

The man said that he received a call around 01:30hrs on Saturday morning from GPHC. He learnt shortly after that his wife and child had passed.