Freedom Law Chambers has provided the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) with a list of 21 premature babies who have died at the Port of Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) in the last two years, 17 of whom died in the last four months.

Parents of 14 of these babies have so far sent pre-action protocol letters to the NWRHA.

The information was contained in the latest pre-action letter sent to the NWRHA on behalf of Wendy Bravo, 37, whose daughter Lily-Marie died after just two days.

Unlike the other mothers, Bravo said her daughter was never admitted to the NICU despite being born after just 26 weeks.

Recounting her experience, Bravo said at her last scheduled ultrasound on January 31, she was told her baby showed no significant issues but her placenta was detached from the uterine wall which led to the formation of a blood clot.

She said despite her meticulous calculations that she was 26 weeks pregnant, the doctor insisted the she was 23-24 weeks pregnant.

On February 4, Bravo said she began to bleed and went to the PoSGH where she was warded for observation after an ultrasound and told her situation remained unchanged and the baby was developing properly.

While warded, she began to feel discomfort and passed “sizeable” clots, one as large as her hand.

Bravo said she consistently alerted the medical team of her ongoing bleeding and the passage of the clots but was only examined by doctors hours later and given Endometrin to “boost” the baby owing to the bleeding she was experiencing.

Five days later, Bravo was still passing blood and began experiencing what she thought were “gas pains.”

Concerned her declining placenta would eventually affect the baby’s growth, Bravo said she begged the nurses and doctors to do an ultrasound but was told everything was normal.

Bravo claimed after pleading with nurses, she was taken to an examination room where an intern used a mobile phone light to help the midwife who did a manual exam.

Bravo claimed the midwife was so rough with her during the examination that it caused her to scream.

She returned to her bed feeling violated and soon began to experience excruciating pains.

Bravo was given Panadol and told by an intern that she had to gather her belongings and go downstairs as she was three centimetres dilated.

Bravo said that when she got downstairs an initial attempt at an intravenous tube (IV) insertion failed and had to be repeated.

Bravo said almost immediately after the IV was inserted, she felt as though she had begun giving birth and shouted to the midwife, “Something coming!... Something coming!”

Her concerns were dismissed by a midwife who said she was overreacting and forcibly lowered Bravo’s diaper before saying, “Yuh see yuh see, it have nothing, it's probably a clot.”

When Bravo persisted with her cries, the midwife again forcibly lowered her diaper and upon seeing the baby’s amniotic sac already partially out exclaimed, “Oh s---!”

Lilly Marie Bravo was born still in her amniotic sac and Bravo said she “vividly remembers