The Ministry of Public Health has launched an investigation into the country’s latest maternal death—a Berbice River woman who succumbed yesterday morning, nine days after she delivered a stillborn girl via Caesarean-section (C-section) at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
According to Pauline and Godfrey Marshall, their only daughter Vanessa Amsterdam, 26, of Berbice was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital on September 23, after she started to experience labour pain and headaches. She was transferred to the GPH that same night and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where she spent her last days. It was her first pregnancy after seven years of marriage.
When contacted yesterday, Minister of Public Health Dr George Norton told Stabroek News that the ministry is currently investigating the case. He explained that Amsterdam suffered from high blood pressure throughout her seven months of pregnancy and was diagnosed with placental abruption —a condition in which the placenta is separated from the uterus, cutting off the supply of oxygen to the baby. “It is a very important role of the