A 38-year-old mother who was reportedly denied admittance to a private hospital, gave birth last week in what is said to be another worrying instance of a mother being refused admission and being referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
According to a press release from the GPH, the second incident occurred on the same date, January 13. The first incident saw a young mother giving birth to her daughter in a taxi in GPH’s compound.
On the above-mentioned date, Marilyn Mohamed of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, who was eight months pregnant at the time, visited the private hospital accompanied by her husband for her scheduled clinic check-up. During this visit, she had an ultrasound done and (much to her discomfort) was later examined by a male gynecologist. She also underwent a COVID-19 test and was found to be positive
According to the GPH release, Mohamed started to bleed and became uneasy after learning the news. As such, she subsequently requested to be admitted but was told that the hospital could not accept her and she was referred to GPH.
Both Mohamed and her husband were shocked and upset with the unexpected treatment meted out by the institution and reluctantly proceeded to the GPH. Upon arrival, after relating the story to the admissions department, she was immediately admitted to the isolation ward.
“Seeing her condition, nurses and doctors immediately rushed to her assistance, began to treat her case as an emergency and on examination, they found that she was in labour pain and contracting,” the hospital’s release noted.
The woman’s husband, Riyaz Mohamed, who had left the facility to collect items for his wife, returned to GPH later that day to find that the baby had been delivered. The release further noted due to a low heart rate, the infant was placed in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
While his wife is at home recovering and in isolation, the husband now has the responsibility of working, taking care of the home and visiting the baby. Mohamed told the GPHC’s public relations department that he remains forever thankful to the doctors, nurses and other staff members for the care and attention given to his wife and the newest addition to their family.
