A 39-year-old mother of five, Navita Maraj, and her unborn child died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) around 1:30 am on Saturday.
Maraj’s common law husband, Phillip James, told Stabroek News yesterday that on Saturday morning around 1:30, he received a call from the GPHC. The speaker on the other end informed him that he should come to the hospital urgently. When James arrived he was informed that Maraj had died. According to James, uterine rupture was given as the cause of death. This, he said, was related to him by a doctor.
James recalled that on the previous day, Friday around 5pm, Maraj told him that the doctor had administered Oxytocin tablets to induce labour and which was making her drowsy. He said that Maraj told him that as she was feeling sleepy,”she is going to take a rest and put her phone on vibrate.” He noted that Maraj’s sister was informed of this as well. James said he never heard from his wife again.
According to James, Maraj was a patient at the GPHC maternity clinic where she was admitted for observation. James said that at the time of admission, Maraj was not experiencing any pain. He said prior to Maraj’s admission they both agreed that because of her [unknown] complication she would give birth via Caesarean Section. The unknown complication also explained why on her clinic card, Maraj’s clinical assessment was listed as ‘high risk’.
James said following Maraj’s admission to the hospital, she complained to him during visits and via mobile calls that while she insisted on a C-section method of delivery, the doctor was in constant disagreement. James said that it was agreed with the hospital that since Maraj was a high-risk patient she should give birth via C-Section. He added that the doctor later explained to him that the C-Section wasn’t done because though Maraj did agree, at the last minute Maraj allegedly said, “she don’t want it anymore”. James could not accept the doctor’s comment as accurate.
James said that throughout this ordeal it was Maraj who insisted that she wanted the C-section. James was equally adamant that Maraj kept insisting on the C-Section to the doctor; James further intimated that if she [Maraj] had changed her decision she would have also communicated same to him.
James said that the unborn baby would’ve been his first and that he wants the truth as to what really happened to Maraj. James said that though he supported Maraj and her five children financially, Maraj was independent being her own breadwinnner for her children. James said that a 5 and 7 year old are the youngest and is now hoping that the government will step in to render them assistance.
