THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) said it did all it could to save the lives of a woman and her newborn last week, but the infant died.

In an effort to set the record straight regarding the case of Jennifer Jadgeo, Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OBGYN) Department at the GPHC, Dr Lucio Pedro, told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the 36-year-old Jagdeo had visited the GPHC from a private doctor without a referral after being advised by her doctor to go to the public health institution, because he was “busy”. It was her first pregnancy.

Pedro further explained that Jagdeo had arrived at the administration at 12:37hrs last week Monday and was admitted at 13:14hrs, noting that, “she gave a history of a ruptured membrane, that her water bag burst three months ago. So, she was taken to the delivery [room] and the doctors examined her and found out she was only 30 weeks, a premature baby, and she was breached. We prepared her immediately”.

According to the head of the OBGYN, though there was a delay due to another patient being operated on in the theatre, the Caesarean section (C-section) was performed on Jadgeo as quickly as possible. Dr. Pedro said that once the baby was delivered at 13:45hrs, it was handed over to the senior paediatrician. He stated that the staff observed that the baby was blue, its limbs could not extend and the lungs were not fully developed as a result of the premature birth.

According to the head of the OBGYN, these complications were the result of inadequate fluid around the baby, which decreased its developmental stage. Recognising that not much else could be done for the baby, Dr Pedro then recounted the newborn who was taken to its parents. Half of an hour later, the baby died.

Dr Pedro added that a referral from her doctor would have been helpful to the doctors on call in providing the necessary medical attention Jagdeo needed. The GPHC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), retired Brigadier George Lewis, expressed his condolences to the family, noting that the reported issues of mistreatment will be investigated. “The issue of the treatment by the nurses highlighted by her, we will investigate to ensure that it does not happen again to other patients — if it did happen,” Lewis said.

He said the hospital has a number of dedicated and hard-working staff providing a proper delivery of healthcare services and the administration will not condone such behaviour from any of its staff. The CEO reminded that the administration’s complaints department is open to all. Lewis also stressed that the media must seek both sides of a matter, before publishing a story, to ensure all information provided is correct. On March 18, the Guyana Times published an article that recounted the first-time mother’s claims of mistreatment during and after her child’s birth at the GPHC’s Maternity Ward.