A baby girl died on Monday as a result of a congenital heart defect at the Georgetown Public Hospital and the mother is now seeking to move on although she says it’s hard to deal with the loss.
Melissa Mitchell, 31, of Railway Line, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara said that she went into labour on Friday and was rushed to the GPH where she was sent for a caesarean section around 8pm. Mitchell who was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday said she did not leave the operating room until midnight.
“I didn’t get to see the baby until Sunday,” Mitchell stated. “Sunday when ah get to see the baby then them tell me that the baby born with a problem.” Mitchell said that she was told the baby passed away from a congenital heart defect.
A teacher by profession, Mitchell said she asked for a written explanation of what actually happened to her baby. She was handed a piece of paper which was titled “Doctor’s Note”. The note was not stamped with the hospital seal or signed by a doctor but it said that the “baby had no problems at birth except for some nasal flaring.”
In the note it was stated that nasal flaring was “a sign of respiratory distress” and “and is common in many babies and resolves with oxygen.”
The note continued: “Baby was sent to CS (caesarean section) room because nasal flaring had resolved. However she began having more respiratory distress few hours after birth.
“Doctor was called and found the baby had a low heart rate.
Hence admission to the nursery; in the nursery, she continued to have low heart rate and required resuscitation. This morning (Monday) she started gasping and heart rate dropped even more,” the note concluded.
At the bottom the note had the term “congenital heart defect”.
Mitchell said during her pregnancy there were no signs of anything being wrong with the baby. “It’s hard but God knows best…,” Mitchell acknowledged.
“What I could do?” the mother of two added, while being thankful that her life was spared.
“I thank God that I make it because it could have been me and I got two more to live for,” she said. Mitchell already has a seven-year-old and a two-year-old to take care of.
Meanwhile the woman said she is baffled about the Guyana Chronicle report that had given her two children when she only delivered one.
The Guyana Chronicle yesterday stated that Mitchell had given birth to twins who later passed away owing to a heart defect.
Mitchell said that the child will be buried today and she wants to move on and take care of her two children.
