Sangre Grande woman wants answers after baby dies in labour

Instead of celebrating the much-anticipated birth of her baby girl, a Sangre Grande woman is in mourning after the child died while being delivered on Wednesday night.

Patrice Munroe says she and her family were left grieving and heartbroken after they were told her daughter had died, hours after she went into labour.

Munroe, 23, said this was her second pregnancy after giving birth to twins in 2020 and she looked forward to having another child.

She said during her pregnancy doctors at the clinic said there appeared to be extra fluid in the baby's head, but reassured her the baby was otherwise healthy.

"When I did the second ultrasound, I told the technician that they said the baby had extra fluid. I told him so he could check to see if it improved or got worse. I asked him if everything was good with the baby, he showed it to me: all of the vital signs were okay.

"He even pressed on my belly to measure the child's head, he never said anything was wrong with the child. So I left there happy.

"The doctors called me in after I did the first ultrasound. I asked the doctor if everything was okay with the baby; she said the baby had extra fluid. She gave me a paper referring me to the hospital. She said nothing's wrong, it's just the child got a little extra fluid in her brain."

She said the problems began when she went into labour and went to the Sangre Grande Hospital and nurses tried to burst the amniotic sac.

Monroe said while waiting for the baby's head to lower into the birth canal for delivery, she realised too much time had passed before a nurse visited her and began feeling around her birth canal.

"Another nurse stuck her fingers inside and she felt to the left, when her fingers went straight down, and when she pulled it back out, she saw blood.

"They took me to the emergency surgery theatre. They said the baby's head was already in the passageway. They said the blood was due to the placenta. But I don't see how the baby's head and placenta is in the same spot, that doesn't make sense to me.

"I just started to feel things coming out of my vagina."

Munroe said after recovering from surgery she tried to find out about the condition of the baby, but staff were hesitant about giving any details on what happened.

"When I got up I asked them, 'Where is the baby?' Nobody wanted to tell me what happened.

"One nurse said they would tell me when I got over to the ward.

"That same night I found out that my baby died."

Munroe said she did not believe the explanation given by one doctor that her daughter's death was due to part of her head being exposed while in the womb, and is calling for answers.

She said the grieving family would request an autopsy to get more details on what could have caused the baby's death.

She added that depending on the findings, they will consider legal action against the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA).

On Friday, the ERHA issued a media release confirming there had been an abnormal birth at the hospital and extended sympathy to the relatives, but maintained proper procedure had been followed.

"Members of our medical and social services teams are consulting with the family to address their concerns as they come to terms with this unfortunate but natural occurrence.

"There was no breach in the administration of the duty of care whether by action or omission. The ERHA respects the rights of the patient and is unable to release any details."

Despite this, Munroe says she is convinced there was some lapse in protocol, and intends to continue her search for answers.