Twenty-year-old Tamera Leslie is seeking justice for the loss of her premature baby after encountering a tragic experience at the Woodlands Hospital.
Stabroek News was yesterday unable to obtain a comment on the matter from the Woodlands Hospital.
The young teacher who was six months pregnant, on Monday began experiencing pain for which she decided to visit the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
The woman said because she was pregnant, she assumed that she needed to visit the maternity section but instead was sent over to the Accident and Emergency ward, where she was told to have a seat.
Leslie explained that she went to find her mother and requested that they visit a private hospital after the pain intensified.
Upon arrival at the Woodlands Hospital she was asked if she was a registered patient and was informed that her mother would fill out the paperwork since she was in too much pain to do so.
The young woman stated that she was taken to the Emergency Room where she was examined by a nurse after which she was seen by a doctor where she explained what was happening. After speaking with the doctor she was led to another room where she met with a midwife.
According to the expectant mother, the midwife then checked the infant’s heartbeat, examined her and stated that everything was okay as she explained that she was in “active labour”. The midwife also asked how far along she was in her pregnancy and she responded, six months. At this point she was informed that the baby would die.
At that time, Leslie stated that her contractions were approximately two minutes apart.
She was then instructed to begin “pushing” in order to deliver the baby.
However, after delivering a visibly alive baby, Leslie stated that her baby was wrapped in a blanket and placed beside her. She was told that the baby would die since she was just six months along.
The young mother recalled that she was not given any options to save her baby, such as placing her baby in an incubator. She stated that she is aware of cases where babies as young as hers had been kept alive.
As far as Leslie is concerned, her baby was not properly cared for and if the midwife had at least let her see her baby stop breathing on her own, she would have understood, instead of her wrapping up a live baby whom she herself (the midwife) said was alive.
She also expressed dissatisfaction in the way she was treated and that she was cleaned briefly (to ensure that she was not bleeding heavily) before her mother had to take over to do it properly.
Leslie also shared that she was asked if she could have afforded to stay overnight where she would be cleaned out, and opined that the tone used was more a question of if she had the money to do so.
In addition, Leslie said that during the delivery, the midwife received a call on her cellular phone, where the person on the other end was inquiring about what time she needed to be picked up.
The young woman stated that she is very devastated after having carried her baby for 6 months, only to have her hopes dashed when the medical personnel present did not even try to save the baby.
“I expected for her to at least try” she said.
Leslie wants the matter to be investigated thoroughly.
The mother of the young woman, Antoinette Leslie, in an invited comment also called on health officials to try their very best when caring for patients and to go the extra mile to save a life.
