THREE weeks before the mass deaths at the Port of Spain General Hospital neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), announced in early April in which seven babes died, another premature baby died after contracting two bacterial infections in his blood.

Jayden Allister Pierre was only 22 days old when he died.

His mother, Nandaranie Nathoo of Brazil Village, off Arima, gave birth at 29 weeks gestation at the Sangre Grande Hospital on February 22.

On April 16, attorneys led by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, announced baby Jayden’s death in a pre-action protocol letter.

“This baby was not among the seven mentioned in our previous pre-action letters.”

Ramlogan and his team from Freedom Law Chambers are representing the families of the seven babies who died at the NICU between April 4 and 7. They have initiated legal action against the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA).

The other seven mothers are Shaniya Raymond-Adams, Natasha Samuel, Shaquille Harry, Danyelle Samaroo, Tinelle Saunders, Jodie Molino, and Shirese Moore-Beckles. They all cite medical negligence.

Tuesday’s letter – which revealed for the first time the identity of the baby who had died three weeks before the seven NICU deaths – followed a response from an attorney representing the NWRHA.

However, Ramlogan’s letter was critical of the authority’s treatment of his clients.

“The parents were deceived and lied to by the PoSGH. They were told their babies were healthy and doing just fine and no one bothered to mention that they had developed a serious and life-threatening infection,” Ramlogan said.

The letter complained about the failure to provide the babies’ medical notes and records, to the parents, accusing the authority of lacking transparency.

It also made clear that none of the families wanted to communicate with any of the NWRHA’s staff, including medical social workers, out of fear.

“Let us, therefore, make our position abundantly clear: We do not wish that the NWRHA has anything to do with our clients because they simply do not trust the NWRHA.”

The letter said if the NWRHA truly cared, it would provide the medical notes and records and answer questions on the proposed meeting with the authority’s officials on April 16 and 17. Tuesday’s meeting did not take place.

On April 15, in a previous letter, the attorneys made it clear they would not attend any meeting unless the NWRHA addressed the families’ concerns.

Tuesday’s letter added, “The NWRHA would have offered immediate financial assistance to the bereaved mothers so that they can seek private counselling and therapy from psychologists who they are comfortable with.”

The request for financial assistance was also made so the families could hire independent medical experts in infectious diseases.

“This is obviously important because you cannot expect them to trust and accept the investigation that the NWRHA is doing because it is tantamount to investigating themselves...

“For the record, our clients have no faith and confidence in this investigati