A first-time mother who took legal action over the death of her unborn child will receive compensation from the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA).
On Tuesday, the authority was commended for its decision to settle with Jamilah Anne Gonzales, whose baby was stillborn in 2017. She will receive $150,000 as full and final settlement.
Gonzales’s lawsuit was expected to go on trial on Tuesday, but, instead, the agreement was presented to Justice Frank Seepersad, who said medical-negligence death claims were a nuanced area of litigation in which the court had to balance the unpredictability of life against the probability that the cause of death was established missteps in treatment.
“In a society where the right course of action is rarely adopted, the position adopted by the defendant is welcomed as it is refreshing.”
He said while a monetary award can never compensate Gonzales for her grief, it was hoped the NCRHA would ensure there were improvements to its monitoring and response processes for pregnant women with complications.
In her claim, Gonzales said she never had any concerns during her pregnancy, but on December 14, 2017, she had a watery vaginal discharge and again three days later. There was no blood, but she visited the clinic at the Arima Health Centre – where she had gone nine times during her pregnancy – on December 18, 2017, two days before her expected due date.
She was referred to the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital and three days later, because the birth department there was full and short-staffed, her baby was stillborn on December 21, 2017, three days after Gonzales was admitted to hospital with bloody and fleshy discharges and pain.
“I bawl out, I was in shock and disbelief. I tried to get up from the bed and the doctors held me back I started crying. I just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere,” she said of her reaction when told the baby was not alive.
The dead foetus was removed from her body and she was allowed to see it.
After being discharged, she was told she had to come back to the hospital, since she was not supposed to have been sent home, and was questioned by a doctor.
A post-mortem by Prof Hubert Daisley said the baby died of thrombosis of the umbilical vein and macerated stillbirth.
The autopsy report from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex said death was macerated stillbirth and an infection of the placenta and amniotic fluid.
In her lawsuit, Gonzales said she became depressed and could not get the picture of her dead baby out of her mind. Her relationship suffered and she lost all hope.
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