A day after the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) announced that it recorded 10 maternal deaths this year, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony said a total of 15 maternal deaths were recorded overall across the country.
The Health Minister, while speaking at his ministry’s end-of-year press conference, said maternal care in Guyana has been steadily improving.
“We’ve seen an improvement in maternal deaths – in terms of the reduction. We are getting better at doing a number of interventions,” Dr. Anthony said.
Further, he said no woman died of haemorrhaging this year.
Of the women who died this year, Dr. Anthony said one death was caused by a complication not relating to the pregnancy. Another two deaths were migrants who came to Guyana with “lots of complications” but could not be saved, he said.
The day before, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s Chief Consultant Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr. Rafi Rozan, revealed that six of the 10 maternal patients who eventually died this year were referred to the GPHC from other hospitals in a critical state; some of them were from outlying regions.
Three women, Dr. Rozan revealed, died due to ectopic pregnancies, three died due to respiratory disorders, another three died of hypertensive conditions during their pregnancies and the final woman faced a hypovolemic shock after her c-section.
These were all high-risk cases but Dr. Rozan pointed out that over 300 women, in critical conditions, were saved throughout the year.
When asked about any probes into the 15 deaths, Guyana’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Narine Singh said one case is being investigated for potential mismanagement. That case is before the Medical Council of Guyana.
He, however, noted that all maternal deaths are investigated so that the local health authorities can figure out ways of improving the delivery of maternal care.
Last year, the News Room reported that there were 17 maternal deaths across the country.
Maternal deaths, mother or baby or both shouldn’t be happening.
A secret I kept for years will now be exposed.
A village nurse in my village brought me + 4 others brothers/sisters into the world.
So are my aunts, mother. They have all gone now. My cousins, many have also gone,
while some of us cousins are now in the 80’s. They never went to hospital in New Amsterdam at Charles Place for delivery. This nurse/midwife did this all by herself. She was the first go to person when anyone was pregnant and she was loved, revered dearly by all mothers. She was the late NURSE GALLOWAY OF SHEET ANCHOR and she a professional at heart- a negro villager.