The parents of a four-day old baby are in police custody after the infant was pronounced dead on Monday at the New Amsterdam Hospital, East Berbice-Corentyne (Region Six).
Investigations have revealed that the child’s mother gave birth on November 5, 2020 at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and was discharged on November 7, 2020.
On November 9, 2020 at about 09:00h, the woman, a 27-year-old housewife and her reputed husband, a 52-year-old driver as well as their 8-year-old daughter left their EBD home for the GPHC where the woman was scheduled for a routine medical checkup.
The woman alleged that she arrived at the hospital at about 10:00hrs and left the baby with her reputed father and daughter in the car. Following her appointment at about 12:08hrs, she returned to the car and observed that the baby was crying all the time and breathing heavily. The woman said she noticed that the baby’s dress was removed and she was only clad in her pampers and under pants. The mother recalled feeding the child some water and said the baby defecated and slept.
Later that day, at around 14:45h, the mother, the two children and her reputed husband traveled to No. 1 Settlement, Blairmont, West Bank Berbice (WBB) where she intended to stay for some time to recover from the birthing process. Her reputed husband reportedly left her and the children there.
The woman said while in Berbice, the baby continued to cry all the time and breath heavily as if she was suffocating. At about 18:05h, the child was taken to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where she was examined by a doctor who pronounced her dead on arrival.
During the examination, it was observed that the baby’s anus was “severely expanded”. The body was photographed and taken to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital mortuary and is awaiting a post mortem examination.
