17-year-old dies after giving birth

Georgetown Guyana

(Picture insert of Tandica Williams)

Debra Armstrong, the mother of a 17-year-old girl who died four days after giving birth at the Georgetown Public Hospital, is calling for justice to prevail as she is convinced that negligence was evident on the part of hospital officials.

Last evening, the distraught Armstrong of Lot 6 D’Aguiar Street, Meadow Bank, Georgetown, recounted that her daughter, Tandica Williams, had a normal pregnancy.

According to the woman, her daughter started to experience labour pains last Friday night and was taken to the public hospital where she was admitted in anticipation of her delivery.

On Saturday, the labour pains continued, the woman said. A nurse had informed her (Armstrong) that Williams should give birth before the end of the day, she added. And indeed just before midnight Williams gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

However, Armstrong said that she was informed that the medical officials had some difficulties removing the placenta from her daughter.

Williams appeared to be well enough and was discharged on Tuesday. However, Armstrong said that her daughter developed a dreadful pain in her stomach area, a development which saw her being re-admitted to the hospital later that day.

Armstrong said that upon her daughter’s admission to the hospital an x-ray was done and a decision was made to monitor her closely. The woman said that she confidently left her daughter in the care of the hospital officials around 05:00 hours.

It was around 19:30 hours yesterday, a tearful Armstrong said, that she received a telephone call from the nurse informing her that her child was dead. No reason for her death was offered at the time, the woman added.

But according to Williams’ aunt, Josephine Armstrong, she arrived soon after her niece’s demise and observed her lifeless and swollen body on a bed. The woman recalled that she saw a pan of blood nearby and proceeded to pick up her niece’s belongings after she was told she was dead.

However, Debra Armstrong said that she later learnt from the doctor that her daughter had developed an internal infection.

As such the family is calling for an investigation to determine the actual cause of death.