THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) said it has noted an article in the October 8, 2013 edition of Stabroek News under the caption ‘Family accuses GPHC of inadequate care after young mother’s death’.

In its response, the GPHC said all the staff were very saddened by the recent maternal death of Ms. Sadhna Dutchin.
It added: “Every maternal death is a tragedy and everyone at GPHC is acutely sensitised to this. Everyone in Administration and on the Maternity Ward is working tirelessly to improve services, remove any room for errors and prevent further deaths.
“And so, while it does not compare to the grief felt by the family and friends of these women, each death is painfully felt by all our staff.
“Each death is thoroughly reviewed by the Administration as well as doctors and nurses of the Obstetrics Ward and any other department involved, identifying where problems occurred so they can be resolved and prevented from happening again,” GPHC said.
“In the case of Ms. Dutchin, it appears that the medical care she received during her initial admission was completely appropriate and there was no way to predict she would suffer the complications she did,” the institution added.
According to the GPHC, Ms. Dutchin died of a rare complication known as peri partum cardiomyopathy. Statistics for Guyana are not available but in the USA, for example, it affects one in 4,000 women who give birth. Scientists are not sure why the complication occurs but it results in the heart muscle becoming very weak, floppy and ineffective.
“The chambers of the heart dilate, becoming much larger than normal. Because the blood is not pumped effectively, it can pool in these chambers and form large clots that can then shoot off into the lungs, as pulmonary embolisms, causing chest complications and difficulty in breathing.Unfortunately, these are the complications that led to Ms. Dutchin’s death,” the GPHC stated.

EXTREMELY DIFFICULT
The hospital administration said, too, that peri partum cardiomyopathy, sometimes, develops in the later stages of pregnancy but usually occurs in the weeks to months (up to five months) following birth.  When it does occur, it is extremely difficult to treat.
GPHC said that, traditionally, as many as one-third to one half of women require a heart transplant and, today, even in hospitals with every available resource, one in four women die.
“Ms. Dutchin was thoroughly reviewed by our doctors every day following her delivery and, at no stage were there any signs or symptoms of cardiomyopathy,” GPHC said.
“It appears that, like most of the women who develop this complication, it developed in the weeks following her delivery, after she went home. When Ms. Dutchin returned to GPHC, her diagnosis was made immediately. She was treated by a team of specialists and soon transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where she could get the best care available. But, unfortunately, despite the intensive care, her heart and lungs were already too damaged and she died five days later,” GPHC lamented.
GPHC said as a result of Ms. Dutchin’s death, its doctors and nurses will have additional training in this rare complication, to help them be increasingly vigilant, in the hope that they may detect if a woman develops the disease earlier.
The Ministry of Health Maternal Mortality Review Committee is also reviewing this case and GPHC said its feedback is welcome.
The GPHC also said it would like to remind the public that there are many complications affecting pregnancy before, during and after birth.