There is no evidence of negligence by staff of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in the death of Akeisha Richardson, according to Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton, who says no definitive cause has been found as yet for the passing of the young mother.
Richardson, 21, delivered her baby on Friday, July 24th at the GPHC and died three days later at the facility. The GPHC has said that following delivery, Richardson started experiencing seizures and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where she was being monitored. However, she subsequently died.
On Wednesday morning, an autopsy was performed on Richardson by government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh.
Norton, who witnessed the autopsy along with Dr. Lucio Pedro, head of the GPHC Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, explained that doctors “found macroscopic lesions at the level of the brain, heart and lungs.” Norton explained that these lesions will now be studied to ascertain which of them was “the most aggressive and thus the probable cause of her death.”
He, however, noted that generally such lesions are a result of “a blockage of a blood vessel caused by a thrombosis or embolism, either from there itself or from somewhere else. It can travel from the leg. To rule that out, we would have to examine every blood vessel in the lower extremities.”
He stressed that his desire to ascertain the reason for Richardson’s death prompted him to be present for the autopsy. “I wanted to make certain that there was no malfunctioning of equipment or failure to act on the part of the staff; everything was in place. I went there early the morning after she had her seizures. The ICU nurse and doctors were there, the GMO, the first and third year residents were there, Dr. Pedro was there, right where she had the first seizure because she was not in a condition to be moved. She then had a cardiac arrest. After two seizures she had a cardiac arrest,” he said.
Norton also noted that a full report on Richardson’s case will not be ready for some time yet. The process is that the “hospital takes one week to investigate and sends the report to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), the CMO then calls in an expert team, which consists of private doctors such as Head of the Guyana Medical Council Dr [Shoba] Gobin, who review the results.”
Richardson is the fourth maternal death this year.
In January, 19-year-old, Marina Persaud, of Golden Grove, died of an intestinal rupture after delivering on Christmas day. In April, 22-year-old Kamili Arjune died on Good Friday after a botched abortion. In May, 20-year-old Yonette Gray died after delivering her first child by caesarean-section at the Suddie Hospital.
Guyana has been ranked as one of the five Caribbean countries with the highest maternal deaths. Maternal mortality rate is measured as the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management, excluding accidental or incidental causes. It includes deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, for a specified year.
According to the report, ‘Trends in Maternal Mortality Estimates 1990 to 2013,’ Guyana’s mortality rate is 250 deaths per every 100,000 births.
