In light of the surfacing of a photograph of a mother breastfeeding her newborn under a bed in the maternal ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) last week, Public Health Minister Dr. George Norton says doctors and nurses need to exercise greater vigilance.
Norton told Stabroek News the woman was admitted to the maternal ward at the GPHC on March 19 and delivered her baby the following day. However, the baby was discovered to have been born with jaundice and was thus required to undergo Phototherapy at the hospital.
During this time, another pregnant woman was admitted to the hospital and the two mothers were made to share a bed. However, he said, the second woman eventually became abusive, resulting in the first woman becoming uncomfortable.
According to Norton, it was then that she decided that she would spread a sheet under the bed and lay there with her baby. He explained that the nurses would give the baby to her for breastfeeding and would then take the baby back to the Phototherapy area.
While over-crowding in the maternal wards of public hospitals continue to be an issue, Norton noted that he finds issue with the fact that neither nurses nor doctors attempted to rectify the situation when it occurred.
“Not everyone would be comfortable sharing a bed and that’s why some would use the chair when nursing the baby but if we had our nurses and doctors there in the ward, they should have done everything to prevent that from happening,” he lamented.
He added that not only was it allowed to happen, but photographs were taken, which indicates that there was ample time to have the situation rectified.
“But having known that that had happened, as scandalous as it was, they did not report it to necessary authorities. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) knew nothing of it. The CEO of the hospital knew nothing of it. The Director of Medical Services and even the head of the maternity unit of the GPHC knew nothing about it,” he added.
He said that while the other department heads were unaware of what had transpired, the Head of the Child and Maternal Unit of the Ministry of Health was aware of it but she did not bring it to the attention of the CMO, who is her superior officer.
“Something as disturbing as that we seem to be taking it for granted. We seem not to care. For years, we have been sharing beds but this is the first time where a mother is allowed to lay on the floor to nurse her baby,” he said.
Norton noted that he finds the level of professionalism displayed by the medical personnel worrisome. “It’s telling us that regardless of all the facilities that we might have, if we don’t have vigilant and caring health care givers, in the form of nurses and doctors, then we have a problem,” he added.
Overcrowding
Meanwhile, when questioned about efforts to alleviate over-crowding in the maternal wards, Norton noted that the problem was inherited from the previous administration.
However, he said since a tour of the maternal ward at the GPHC was done by himself and President David Granger, they administration has undertaken plans to deal with the overcrowding on both a short term and long term basis.
Norton noted that because there was the need to reduce the maternal and infant mortality rate, patients from other regions were being admitted to the GPHC, thus the need to share beds in the maternal ward became prominent. He added that immediately following the president’s visit, they began looking around to other medical institutions to assist, since it was realised that the GPHC was being flooded.
“We went across to the Leonora Cottage Hospital, where we found an entire maternal ward abandoned where patients could have delivered their babies and so on. We decided to renovate that and we thought that we will try to run with that as soon as possible, so we can get space to put these mothers and babies in the hope of easing the overcrowding at the GPHC,” he related. However, he stated that because there will be the addition of a prenatal ward, a post-natal ward, and an operating unit at Leonora, the reopening of the ward has been delayed until July.
He noted that in the meantime, the ministry went to the West Demerara Hospital, where it reopened another abandoned maternity unit. This ward has since been repainted and has seen the addition of air-conditioning units. He also boasted of the ward having a fully functioning neonatal unit and a total of 15 post-natal beds available.
“At the end of this month, we are hoping to have a 50-bed extension at the GPHC and with these three institutions overcrowding and bed sharing would be reduced on a short term basis,” he added.
In the long term, Norton said, there are plans to extend and renovate the hospitals at Suddie, West Demerara and Bartica, making certain that they have operating facilities, birthing facilities, and pre- and post-natal wards fully equipped with the necessary personnel to have it functioning. This, he said, will alleviate the issue of overcrowding at the GPHC.
