Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
Family seeks answers in death of unborn at GPHC
Kaieteur News – The stillbirth of an infant at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Friday has left relatives with more questions than answers.
According to the baby’s family, the mother was admitted to the maternity ward of the Hospital on Thursday after a spike in her blood pressure.
The stillborn infant was delivered at 35 weeks and according to her family, she was reportedly due in another two weeks.
The infant’s father Jermain Grimmond explained that his 27-year- old girlfriend, Sasha Sobers was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after she was told that her blood pressure had spiked above the more-than-average level.
Jermain Grimmond, father of the stillborn infant
He disclosed that Sobers was being closely monitored by doctors and nurses because she is a diabetic.
“She was told that she needed to be monitored and keep her blood sugar low to avoid complications,” Grimmond said. He said that his girlfriend was also told her pregnancy was considered high-risk.
Due to the advice given, the grieving father said Sobers was extremely cautious and heeded the advice of the medical professionals. He said that she had successfully kept her blood sugar under control by attending the clinic regularly and following the order of the doctors.
However, despite her efforts, she was unable to not stop her blood pressure from spiking. “When she went into the hospital on Thursday, they told her that she needed to be given something to bring her pressure under control,” he told Kaietuer News Saturday.
The young man said that his girlfriend was subsequently administered magnesium sulfate to control her blood pressure.
“They put in her IV drip around 7:30 pm and just after that, she started to complain about feeling a burning sensation and chills from within…The nurses told her that it is a normal feeling [as] it is a side effect of the medication,” he said.
Grimmond said Sobers went to bed Thursday night and was examined by medical officers at the hospital sometime Friday morning.
“They did an ultrasound and found the child had died,” he said.
The aggrieved man said that he believes the baby died in the wee hours of Friday morning since, “My girl told me that she felt the baby kicking up to 3 am in the morning but by the time morning, the staff told her that she had died.”
As a result, labour was induced and the child was stillborn. “They [the staff] told her that this is what she should expect because the pregnancy is a high-risk,” he said.
Grimmond is not convinced and is demanding answers from the hospital’s administrators.
Meanwhile, GPHC’s Communications Officer, Chelauna Providence in response to questions posed by Kaieteur News said that the hospital takes note of the social media post about the infant’s death.
She said while the hospital has a commitment to patient confidentiality that does not prevent it from disclosing the specifics of the patient’s medical profile.
The Communications Officer said that shortly after the patient was admitted to the GPHC, it was noted that her complicated pregnancy resulted in an intrauterine fetal death (stillbirth).
“Our team immediately deployed the relevant protocols in the admission and treatment of the patient based on her diagnosis. We are confident that our medical team exercised sound and timely judgment in the medical management of this patient,” the communication’s officer added.
She noted that the hospital’s administration will continue to avail themselves to the patient and her family to answer any questions and address their concerns.
GPHC has been investigating a string of maternal and infant deaths within the past months.
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