A woman from south Trinidad has threatened to pursue a medical negligence case over the death of her son, who died at the San Fernando General Hospital two weeks after being born prematurely at a little over 24 weeks earlier this year.
Guardian Media understands that last week, lawyers representing the woman, whose identity was withheld based on the nature of the case and the psychological trauma she continues to endure, wrote the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) chief executive Dr Brian Armour threatening litigation over what transpired.
In the correspondence, the woman’s lawyer Ted Roopnarine alleged that his client and her now-deceased son were subjected to “inhumane, degrading and medically negligent treatment”.
On March 12, the mother was taken to the hospital after suffering a fluid leak.
Although she was found to have suffered a rupture to her amniotic membrane through an ultrasound, she was not transferred to the labour ward but rather to a general area used for women suffering from fibroids and miscarriages.
The woman was eventually discharged on March 15 but was forced to return to the hospital four days later as her condition worsened.
She was again discharged but was brought back in an ambulance after relatives made an emergency call.
The woman was dropped off in the labour ward but was transferred to the Accident and Emergency Department.
She was reportedly not examined by a doctor for several hours but was assisted by one when she eventually gave birth the following morning.
Roopnarine claimed hospital staff informed the mother that they would not be able to offer any treatment for her baby as he was born at 24 weeks and four days.
They purportedly referred to an internal policy under which only babies born between 26 to 28 weeks are eligible for treatment due to the alleged high costs and risks associated with treating babies who were born premature.
Despite their alleged claims, hospital staff still eventually transferred the baby to the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) two hours after his birth.