‘The system failed me’
Published:Thursday | October 7, 2021 | 12:12 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Antoinette Rochester spent eight days at Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) waiting for a bed to deliver her baby girl. By the time she eventually got one, it was too late.
The infant died before labour was fully induced, sending Rochester, who had been past her September 19 due date, and her partner Oshane Prendergast into grief.
The horror stories coming out of the island’s premier birthing institution were plenty, but the two dismissed the idea of going private.
“I did everything right and the system failed me. I followed the textbook. I said if anything serious happened, that’s where you’re going to end up. So I tried my luck, but I didn’t have any,” a visibly distraught Rochester told The Gleaner on Monday.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Rochester recalled visiting the hospital on Wednesday, September 22, following a directive from her midwife at the Harbour View Health Centre. She said her situation was urgent.
But Rochester said upon arrival she was sent home and told to return the following morning. No reason was given, she said.
The 27-year-old said that she returned at approximately 8 a.m. but waited eight hours on a chair before accessing a bed on Ward Five. Ward Two, the hospital’s maternity ward, was over capacity.
She, too, was on the list for patients to be induced. Patients were placed on it in order of priority.
The would-be first-time mother said she had no other option but to wait. During this time, she was routinely checked by nurses who assured her that she and her baby were in good health.
Two days later, a doctor visited, she recounted, notifying her that she would try to get her on the list to be induced since she was not going into labour naturally.
This did not happen.
Rochester said that it was not until Monday, September 27, that another doctor returned to check her and then determined that she had been one centimetre dilated. On Tuesday, nothing changed.
The woman said on Wednesday, the doctor swept her membrane, reporting that there was success.
At approximately 11 a.m. the next day, Rochester said her water broke.
“The nurse checked me, but nobody sent me down to the labour ward. During this time, I was feeling sharp pains, but all I could do was cry. I called my spouse and I told him that I needed to get a transfer because I don’t want anything to happen to the baby,” Rochester told The Gleaner, sharing that they were seeking space at Nuttall Memorial Hospital.
They were unsuccessful after spending the night trying.
A nurse eventually stopped by her bedside hours later, Rochester said, and after making checks, noted that she desperately needed to get to the labour ward.
NO URGENCY FROM NURSE
After being assisted to the ward by her spouse, no one reportedly attended to her until the wee hours when another nurse made checks and determined that both mother and child were doing well. She said there was no urgency from that nurse.
“Friday morning, they came around and did their checks again and there was no heartbeat from the baby,” said Rochester.
“They rushed me to do an ultrasound and there was nothing there. No oxygen was going to the baby’s brain. She was dead,” she added, between sobs.
She said she was told that the cause of death was a “macerated foetus”.
Rochester told The Gleaner that she has been in distress since then.
Doctors on duty administered a pill to induce labour, she claimed, only after intervention came from a concerned doctor outside of the hospital that her health could be in jeopardy.
“I just wish that I could go back in time. I would have never gone there. It’s just that I was being cautious. I didn’t want anything to happen. I was just scared. Anything having to do with the system I don’t do it because I’ve seen where it has failed people. I’ve read stories of it failing over and over. I was just scared,” she said.
The Gleaner contacted VJH’s Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Garth McDonald who said that the hospital is severely short-staffed.
He said, too, that the hospital is experiencing a surge in patient admissions, moving from 450 deliveries per month to 750.
He said that is an annual trend.
The medical practitioner said on average, 15 babies are delivered per day with only three nurses on duty per shift. The figure sometimes increases to 25 or more.
McDonald said currently, there are some 23 beds assigned to the labour ward, six of which are delivery beds. There are 243 beds in total at the hospital, all of which were full, he said, when Rochester was admitted.
“This has put a lot of stress and strain on the system as it exists. Our staff has been working beyond the call of duty. There have been delays, many of which are unavoidable based on the situation and the demands on the system as it exists,” he said, describing the couple’s loss as unfortunate.
McDonald said while the delay in treatment of Rochester could have been a factor in the outcome, there may have been underlying maternal or foetal issues.
He also said once patients pass their due dates, stillbirth is a possibility as well. The SMO noted that it was not possible to induce patients without sufficient staff to monitor them in the aftermath.
This, he said, would be catastrophic.
He could not tell The Gleaner, however, the optimum nurse-to-patient ratio.
“Despite all measures put in place we cannot negate or stop every obstetric complication from taking place, but we are empathetic,” the doctor said.
He suggested that an overall expansion of the hospital would be the best solution.
Juliet Campbell-Flynn, state minister in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, whose portfolio covers maternal care, said that there are several issues at hand that have caused significant delays, including for surgery.
She admitted also that there are issues with the nursing staff at VJH.
“There is an active move by VJH, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and the South East Regional Health Authority to expand the number of operating theatres to be dedicated to obstetrics and I do know that drawings have been done and plans for funding are now finalised.
“The labour and delivery wards are also a priority and funding is now being secured,” she added.
Cuthbert-Flynn could not give a timeline for these projects.