1 week ago
4
Senior Reporter
There are calls for an investigation after a woman, who did not know she was pregnant, waited two hours for an ambulance that allegedly never arrived as she went into labour at the Centre of Excellence. The newborn baby boy died soon after being born.
The mother and baby were eventually taken to the hospital by a relative, who rushed to the location. On arrival at the hospital, it was learnt that the baby was dead.
Police said the woman and a friend were at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, around 1 pm on Saturday when the woman reported experiencing a sharp pain around her waist and went to the bathroom.
The woman later reported feeling a “flushing” sensation throughout her body but did not realise she was going into labour until security guards at the facility came to her assistance and told her what was happening.
She later told medical staff that she was unaware she was even pregnant, as she had regularly experienced gaps in her menstrual cycle in the past.
The woman’s mother reportedly called an ambulance, which never arrived.
After waiting, the mother took her daughter and newborn grandson to the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital, where they arrived around 3 pm. The newborn was examined and declared dead by doctors at the NICU.
Sources confirmed that the umbilical cord was around the child’s neck and covered in meconium (the first stool produced by a newborn), which was attributed to the baby being in the toilet bowl of the facility.
Doctors confirmed the baby was full term and weighed six pounds.
An autopsy is expected to be conducted on the newborn boy this week.
Guardian Media contacted a relative for comment on the matter but was told that the family was too distraught to speak. However, sources claimed those involved in the incident were unhappy with the ambulance service—or lack thereof—and want the matter probed.
When contacted for comment via WhatsApp, Minister of Health Dr Lackram Bodoe acknowledged receipt of questions, noting that he would “ask for a report and revert.”
The chief executive officer of private ambulance company Universal Ambulance Services Ltd, Shabiel Khan, said issues where people in urgent need of care had to wait prolonged periods were usually limited to “peak periods,” such as a long weekend or Carnival, when there is high activity on the roads.
Despite this, he felt that additional ambulances were needed to offer a wider range of coverage and greater efficiency to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
“They need to increase the number of ambulances in the country because sometimes you will have 22 units a company will be using per day,” Khan said.
Concerns over the slow response times of ambulances have been raised in the past, as some people blamed the deaths of relatives on the failure of emergency medical teams to respond promptly.
In 2015, Balraj Jawahir died when he was knocked off a feed tank in Arena Road, Freeport. Jawahir’s brother, Avinash Jawahir, claimed that despite repeated calls to an ambulance service, no ambulance was dispatched.
Also in 2015, Lydia Mohammed-Pinchilia died at her Post Office Street, Couva, home while waiting for over half an hour for an ambulance.
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