GUYANA has recorded another maternal death in less than 10 days. Dead is 43-year-old Gladice Rodrigues of Alliance Road, Timehri, East Bank Demerara.
The pregnant woman was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital at around 00:35hr on Wednesday.
According to a reliable source, Rodrigues was referred to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic in May 2017, from another hospital and deemed a high-risk patient due to her age.
The Guyana Chronicle was unable to ascertain the cause of her death. Attempts to contact the country’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud on the matter proved futile on Wednesday; however, the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that an investigation has been launched into the death of Rodrigues.

Rodrigues’ death comes approximately nine days after 17-year-old Esther Edwards died at GPHC after delivering a baby girl via caesarian section on August 1, 2017.
A full investigation will be conducted into the country’s most recent maternal death, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday.
Seventeen-year-old Esther Edwards of Laluni Creek on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, died on August 1, 2017 after giving birth to a baby girl via Cesarean Section (C-Section).
On Tuesday, the CMO told this newspaper that he was informed of Edwards’ death the same day in keeping with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), noting that following the completion of a report by the Internal Review Committee, the Public Health Ministry’s Experts Committee will launch a thorough investigation into the incident.

Based on the investigation, a determination will be made on the “gaps” within the system that led to the death of the pregnant teen and necessary recommendations will be made.
A C-Section was performed on Edwards and while the baby girl was safely delivered, Edwards died subsequently. She died around 03:00hrs on Emancipation Day. Hospital officials have remained tight-lipped on the direct cause of her death, saying that the investigation must be completed before details of the maternal death are disclosed.
Earlier this year, Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence expressed worry over Guyana’s continued high rates of maternal death and infant mortality, stating that all must get involved to reverse the trend.

“The health sector, you and I know, is faced with a myriad of challenges at all levels and in varying degrees with our maternal and infant mortality appearing high on that list; our maternal mortality rates [are] estimated at 121/100,000 live births and infant mortality rates [are] estimated at 22/1000 live births,” Lawrence pointed out.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), USAID, UNICEF and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) have stood out as major partners backing the local public health sector in the last decade “supporting health initiatives aimed at enhancing the delivery of primary health care to our people,” Lawrence said.

In October 2016, the IDB approved a US$8 million loan for a programme to help reduce maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths in Guyana. The five-year programme was designed to improve the quality of care at 140 health facilities and in 88 communities, benefiting at least 140,000 women and 9,000 newborns per year.
The IDB had noted that despite progress achieved during the last decade, Guyana continues to experience one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a maternal mortality rate estimated at 121 per 1,000 live births and an infant mortality rate at 22 per 1,000 live births.

Given that about 93 per cent of deaths in children less than one year of age occurred in the neonatal period, the programme will support and improve maternal and child healthcare with a focus on improving access to quality neonatal health services and providing a better path to and quality of reproductive and maternal health services.
The total cost of the project is US$8 million, to be financed as follows: US$4 million from the IDB’s ordinary capital resources and US$4 million from the Fund for Special Operations (FSO) of the bank. The loan from the bank’s ordinary capital has a six-year grace period and a 30-year term. The FSO funding has a term of 40 years with a 40-year grace period and a fixed annual rate of 0.25 per cent.