| Mother forced to carry dead baby in plastic bag |
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| Written by Aneka Edwards | |
| Thursday, 10 July 2008 | |
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“No mother should be allowed to carry her dead baby in a plastic bag, and be forced to walk around with it for any given period of time,” a depressed Angelica Callwood told the Standpoint in an exclusive interview on June 27.
Her ordeal is now the center of investigations. The visibly shaken and upset young woman came forward with her story to ‘open the eyes of the health officials that all is not dandy in the health sector,’ and to tell a traumatic account of having to walk with the body of her baby in a black plastic bag for more than three hours while she travelled from Jost Van Dyke to the Peebles Hospital to seek additional medical attention. A traumatic ordeal It all began on June 20, around 5:30 pm when Angelica, 21, started experiencing severe abdominal pains. She was six months -3 weeks pregnant and was advised by the doctor the previous day to go on ‘absolute’ bed rest. “I was spotting on June 15, bleeding by June 18 and was instructed by the doctor at the clinic to go on bed rest on June 19,” she said. Concerned for the well-being of her baby, Angelica quickly asked her boyfriend to bring the Nurse from the Jost Van Dyke Clinic to the house. However, overwhelmed with pain and feeling the urge to use the bathroom, which was outside the house, Angelica got up from her bed and subsequently felt something ‘strange’ between her legs. Her mother, Gloria, who accompanied her to the Standpoint, recollected that dreaded day. She told this reporter that she saw her daughter standing with her knees buckled with her hands between her legs. “I asked her what was wrong and she said she was waiting on the Nurse. I told her to go and lie down until the Nurse arrives. I kept advising her to lie down and she said I can’t get down, I can feel something in my hands... I kept encouraging her to try to lie down,” the older Callwood said, pausing to compose herself. Angelica’s mother encouraged her to get in the house, to which she complied. Her mother continued: “I laid a big towel on the floor for her to try to lay on it. While she was trying to lie down, the baby fell out of her unto the floor. I told her not to look at it. At this time I closed the door with her lying there to find out where the nurse was.” According to Gloria, the distance from her home to the Clinic is from
Gloria further stated that the Nurse was seen walking slowly towards the house. Even then the delay in the Nurse’s arrival did not provoke anger, but it was her alleged un-professionalism in handling the situation and the lack of proper equipment at the clinic that left the family fuming. “Maybe the baby was dead,” Gloria admitted, “But the nurse at no time checked for any signs of life.” Angelica piped in saying, “The nurse then began to tend to me by pulling the umbilical cord. It was very painful and I could feel the pain from my side. I begged her to stop,” Angelica said, her voice quivering with emotion. It seemed that the Nurse encountered some difficulty with the procedure and quickly informed the family that she had to return to the Clinic for her forceps. “So there Angelica was laid bleeding from her ordeal, and because she was in so much pain that I had her stoop down so that the placenta can come down,” Gloria related. “And what I could not understand, is don’t the Clinic have those blue padding to absorb the blood?” she questioned. The Nurse subsequently returned, saw what had happened then asked for a black plastic bag to place the baby. “It was devastating ya know,” stated Angelica, “To see your dead baby dumped like a sack of potatoes. What happened to have it wrapped in a towel or something? Why a plastic bag?” To add insult to injury, Angelica was instructed by the Nurse to get up and clean herself and come to the Clinic so that she could process the paperwork. “What kind of treatment is that? And then she [the Nurse] had the audacity to tell me to walk with the plastic bag,” Angelica remembered angrily. So after taking a bath, Angelica began the slow journey to the Clinic with the baby in the black plastic bag. Still in pain from her ordeal, the Nurse informed the grieving mother that since Angelica’s condition was not considered an emergency, the transportation cost for her trip to
A painful journey to
This disclosure prompted Angelica’s mom and boyfriend to frantically search for a boat to take Angelica to West End, where an ambulance would have been waiting to transport her to
Eventually, a boat captain was willing to transport Angelica for a cost of $120. In a letter penned to the Standpoint prior to the interview Angelica’s mother described what happened next. “All this time my daughter is complaining about some heavy pains in her side. The nurse then advised my daughter that if she can find something to put on the seat of the Government owned vehicle, then she would give her a ride to the boat that we had provided but, if she had not find anything to put on the seat, she couldn’t give her a ride cause she did not want the seat to get mess up. So the boyfriend then ran home to get a towel to spread on the seat so my daughter can get a ride out of the government vehicle that the government maintains. The nurse gives her a ride to the boat and did not even accompany her across the sea. When she got up to the boat, the sergeant who is stationed on Jost Van Dykes asked her what was wrong, she told him. Not even he couldn’t advise her to send his officer or advise her to try to send someone along with my daughter on the trip to
It was approximately 7 pm when Angelica arrived at
“Luckily I saw a friend who was there nearby having a meal to take me to the Hospital,” recalled Angelica. While entering the Emergency Unit, Angelica heard the ambulance Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) saying that they had to collect a woman from
“But come on an entire hour!! While I was entering the Hospital I saw about four or five other ambulances parked up,” Angelica revealed. After being admitted, Angelica said she felt like a ‘terrible mother’ since she could hear the whispers from doctors and nurses alike discussing the method in which she brought in the baby’s body. “It was not my fault that I miscarriage,” she lamented. What was even more disturbing was the fact that the plastic bag was placed under Angelica’s bed while she waited to be examined. During her examination, disclosed Angelica, the Nurses found half of the placenta inside her and her pressure was up in the 180’s. It was eventually removed after constant reminders from Angelica’s boyfriend. A Nurse wrapped the dead baby in a towel and asked Angelica if she knew the gender of the baby. Angelica responded in the negative and was told it was a girl. “We were going to name her Angel Alexis Donovan,” revealed Angelica. Damaged psychologically Going through such an experience has affected Angelica mentally and emotionally. Since discharging herself from the Hospital on Sunday, June 22, she’s been unable to sleep properly. “After the nurses clean me up at the Hospital the Saturday morning they took me to the
She also recalled a nurse asking her questions such as, “Did you ever feel like killing yourself,” and repeatedly asked her “Where is the dead baby?” She got the impression that the nurse believed she aborted the baby. Although optimistic about having another child, [she has a daughter named Maya], Angelica told the Standpoint she has an incompetent cervix. “Maybe that’s why I miscarriage. My first daughter was born prematurely – seven months, three weeks.” Complaint made Before approaching the Standpoint with her story, Angelica and her mother spoke with a hospital official about their concern over the loopholes in Angelica’s case. “We gave a Nurse Pemberton all of our contact information so that we could speak to the relevant persons. A few days later I did receive a call. I was told I had an outstanding bill from my first delivery and was advised to come in and pay it,” Angelica stated. Such a gesture showed insensitivity and lack of respect she added. “It’s like they don’t give a damn. I felt like they let me down.” Questions family want answered The family wants some closure and answers. They are asking if the Nurse could have been a little more professionally trained for such an emergency or could the Jost Van Dyke Clinic be more equipped for such an emergency? Already traumatised, did she have to be forced to walk in public with a dead baby swinging in a plastic bag? Shouldn’t the Government vehicle have paddings in the clinic that could’ve been used to place on the seat of the jeep to give Angelica a ride? What if while traveling to
Can the Government of the BVI do a little better when it comes to the medical facility in Jost Van Dyke? Shouldn’t we have two nurses on duty? “God forbid it was a real emergency or life and death situation (since this one wasn’t) and the nurse had to leave the island with someone, what would have happen if she was needed on another emergency here on the
Investigation to be launched The StandPoint contacted the Minister for Health and Social Development, Dancia Penn-Sallah who issued this statement, “Personnel of The BVI Health Services Authority have met with the family and we are deeply saddened that this incident occurred. I have called for an immediate and thorough investigation into the matter and we will then be in a better position to review the circumstances of the case. Let me again express my sympathy to the family and assure everyone that we remain committed to providing quality healthcare to all our residents, including those on our
Director of the Health Services Authority, Dr. Ronald George met with Angelica recently and told the Standpoint, ‘It was an unfortunate incident” and that he has received the Nurse’s report. He pointed out that there’re areas of concerns that need to be addressed such as the upgrading of the medical facilities in the sister islands. And although he cannot comment on the incident until the investigation is complete he did say, “Plans are afoot to upgrade the policies and procedures on the sister islands. Staffing is also being addressed.” Touching on the ambulance issue, Dr. Georges acknowledged there is a problem with not having adequate EMTs to crew the other ambulances. Comments (11)
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