Rashanna Dindayal, 31, and her unborn child died on October 20 at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) and her family is concerned that they have not been given accurate information about her passing.
Dindayal, a mother of two from Lodge, apparently collapsed at the hospital while making her way to the washroom unattended. She was said to have suffered a severe head wound and died thereafter.
The dead woman’s mother, Shairma Dindayal, told Stabroek News yesterday that around 10 am on Thursday, 20th October she received a call from the GPHC saying her daughter was in a critical condition and to go to the hospital urgently. When she arrived she was put to sit downstairs where she was initially told by a doctor that Rashanna’s heart rate and blood count were low. At this point she said that the doctor said nothing about her daughter’s fall. According to Shairma, the doctor told her that her daughter “can’t make it”.
Shairma questioned the doctor’s view because she recalled that on Wednesday, October 19th after her daughter began getting labour pains, she was rushed to the hospital and admited around 3 am. She was strong and around 7 am that morning, Rashanna called her and said, ”Mommy I’m 4 cm dilated, and I will call you because the hospital don’t have any internet.” After that she was positive that her daughter was in a good condition and she questioned how all of a sudden she could have deteriorated.
Upon questioning the doctor, she got no response. She was told to wait outside. After four hours and no word yet about her daugher’s condition, she was told by someone at the hospital that her daughter had collapsed on her way to the washroom on Wednesday around 8 am and had suffered major injuries.
Shairma said, however, that she continued to wait on the doctor’s response. After waiting for a long time she said she saw her daughter being rolled out on a bed with a lot of wires connected to her nose, chest and mouth. Her daughter was then taken to the ICU.
A long time after, she said that a doctor from the ICU came out and told her that her daughter had collapsed and that an artery had burst in her head and that she had passed away.
Shairma said that the source at the hospital told her that on Wednesday when her daughter left to go to the washroom she fell on the tiles and burst her head. Shairma said that she had checked her daughter’s body and saw a long cut at the back of her head.
She was also told that the baby girl died as a result of her daughter’s collapse. Shairma said that her daughter has left two boys behind, ages 7 and 3. She said that she is seeking the government’s assistance in helping her daughter’s children and also to look into the manner in which she died.
The mother added that she was told by the doctor to come back in eight weeks for Rashanna’s death certificate. Even though the post mortem (PM) was done she said “I still don’t know the PM result of my daughter”.
GPHC’s Public Relations Officer, Chelauna Providence told Stabroek News yesterday that the preliminary findings show that the patient neglected to visit her prenatal clinic. She noted that the GPHC has two visits recorded up to her admission. Providence said that the patient fell as a result of going into cardiac arrest.
Dindayal’s death and that of her baby preceded those of another mother, Navita Maraj and her unborn child on October 29th also at the GPHC.
