The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) yesterday performed the first caesarean section (CS) in the recently-commissioned operating theatre of its Maternity Unit and the operation was a success.
Mandy Smith, 23, delivered her second child, a 3.1 kg (6.8 pounds) baby boy, and she is said to be recovering well. Her first child was also born via CS. The operating doctors were Dr. Geramias Rangel and Dr. Shivani Samlall assisted by a team of nurses and surgical assistants.
Dr. Ruth Derkenne, coordinator of the Residency Masters Degree Programme in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the GPH, said that it was an exciting day for all women and children of Guyana. “It will make a huge difference in the care that we can provide to women who come to give birth here,” she said. “It has been a long six months project to get equipment all the way from hospitals in the US to provide first class quality care to the women and children of Guyana.”
Dr. Derkenne explained that the operating theatre is a part of an initiative to improve the quality of care the hospital provides to women. She added that the initiative also includes establishing a training programme to train doctors to become specialists in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. “The two doctors performing the operation is part of the first training class to become Guyanese specialists,” she added.
Meantime, the GPH in a press release stated that is a proud moment for the hospital and a significant boost in the delivery of healthcare to mothers and children of Guyana. The operating theatre serves as part of an overall initiative by the Ministry of Health to reduce maternal mortality in Guyana, it said.
The GPH noted that the ministry and the GPH, in collaboration with the University of Guyana and Case Western University Hospital of Cleveland, Ohio launched a residency programme in Obstetrics and Gynaecology to train Guyanese physicians to become specialists in this area of health care delivery. Six doctors were selected to undertake this training and Dr. Rangel and Dr. Samlall were specially chosen to perform the inaugural operation.
The hospital pointed out that the new operating theatre is conveniently located a stone’s throw away from the pre-natal unit of the maternity ward, so expectant mothers no longer have to be transported via the ambulance to the main operating theatre in the north block of the hospital’s compound.
According to the hospital, the theatre is outfitted with all the requisite equipment, medical supplies and staff, who will function on a 24-hours basis to cater for any emergency case which may occur. The majority of the equipment was donated by Global Links, a US-based organisation and the Ministry of Health.
“Management of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation remains cognisant of the need to steadily improve the quality of health care provided to the people of Guyana as the demand for such care arises and it continues to work assiduously to realise the Millennium Development Goals,” the hospital added.
