Adding insult to injury is exactly what first-time mother, Dilema Cano, was made to endure after she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Daniella. The baby girl was still-born on April 29, 2011, due to complications, the mother explained.
Cano, 33, told us in a telephone interview on Tuesday, that upon her being discharged from the Belmopan Western Regional Hospital, a day after the delivery, she had gone to request her baby’s body from the hospital’s morgue, only to discover that Daniella was never taken to the morgue, but instead, dumped in a garbage receptacle, designed to be taken away by a vechicle, outside the hospital.
Cano met on Monday with representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Belmopan Hospital to find out who is responsible for such an inhumane act. Cano told us that the representatives are uncertain who is responsible, because they have not yet completed their investigation.
“It can only be one or two persons,” said Cano. She told us that she wants to get three things done: (1)finding and firing who is responsible to set an example for the rest of the staff; (2) ensuring that this incident is not repeated, because no matter how big or small a baby is, he/she is a human being and should not be treated as an animal; and (3) prompting any mother who has secretly dealt with this same predicament, to come forward and publicize her pain.
Cano explained that she had to be induced into labor on Friday, April 29, 2011, at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan, and after several hours of labor, she gave birth to her 2½- pound daughter, Daniella.
She had initially learnt that her baby had died in her on April 26, after she had made a routine visit to the Dangriga clinic for a checkup, “When I went for the checkup, the doctor told me that he could not hear the baby’s heartbeat,” said Cano.
Cano told us that she also underwent an ultrasound, which showed that the baby had no amniotic fluid in its sac. It was not until she had gone for a second opinion at the Belmopan Hospital that she realized that this was indeed the case. At this time Cano was already having a fever, and an emergency delivery had to be set up.
Cano gave birth to Daniella naturally, around 5:45 a.m., and was told by the attending nurse that her baby, who Cano explained would have a proper burial, had already been wrapped and sent to the morgue. Cano says that the nurse was very nice to her, and had confirmed, before clocking out around 7:00 a.m. on Friday, that the infant had indeed been sent to the morgue.
In a letter that Cano sent to media houses today, she said: “A short time ago, I was a very happy woman beside my husband and expecting our first child, a daughter. Unfortunately, due to complications, we lost our child.
“…It is very hard to find words to describe the loss of your first child, but you eventually come to terms with God and yourself, and, then it all comes tumbling down again! It’s hard enough to give birth to your dead child, but it is beyond this world to lose your child for a second time.”
Cano explained that her uncle was outside the hospital at the time when she had been frantically searching for her missing baby, since the attendant and the undertaker could not locate her.
“My uncle saw when the undertaker went to the garbage and found my little girl; in that moment, I don’t know what happened in my head; it was a really horrible feeling,” she said.
Daniella was still able to receive a burial. That day she was taken to Blackman Eddie for burial next to Cano’s mother.
The letter written by Cano continued, “For every letter of every word that I type, a tear is shed, and my heart is in pain, and broken over and over again.
“A child, no matter the size, the condition she or he is born – that little tiny child is a human being! I do not want this to happen to another mother. I do not want her to go through the same feelings as I did.
“I do not want another baby, child to be treated like my little girl Daniella was. If it’s that easy to dump a child…what else is being put in that garbage?
“I want changes. I want the hospital’s administration to make changes – not only on paper, but to actually make them. I don’t believe that all that schooling and education have left you inhumane, incapable of feelings for other human beings other than yourself?
“Do you have feelings, Board of Directors of the Western Regional Hospital – Belmopan? Are you human? Do have feelings, Government and Ministry of Health?
“I want the hospital’s administration and the Ministry of Health to make sure the person(s) responsible to be punished. And, I do not mean a little slap on the hand. NO. I want the person(s) responsible to be punished for his inhumane actions and irresponsible behavior.
“I am being over patient with Belmopan Hospital and Ministry of Health to finish their investigation and deal with this horrible incident so no other mother will ever have to feel the indescribable feelings that I am having to process.
“So, Dr. Peter Allen, CEO of the Ministry of Health – how do you plan to deal with this situation?”
Cano told us that the representatives have apologized to her for her ordeal, and that she appreciates their apology, but she wants action.
Amandala tried on numerous occasions to get a comment from representatives from the Ministry of Health, but we were told no one could speak on the issue, and that a press release had been sent out. We also tried speaking with the Director of Health Services, Dr Michael Pitts, who, we were told, was the only person who could comment, but his secretary told us that he was out of office for the past two days.
The Ministry’s release said that the investigation had been completed, and that, “We confirmed that the body was erroneously misplaced and concluded that the cause was an individual error rather than a systematic error. Administrative actions have been taken within regulations, while steps have been identified to strengthen the procedures to prevent reoccurrence.”
Cano reiterated to us that she wants the Ministry to acknowledge the seriousness of what happened, and that she would like to be comforted by the knowledge that the individual error made by that particular individual was fully addressed, and that the individual would not be allowed to continue working in that health system.
Cano also told us yesterday that the hospital had asked her to wait until Friday for their “investigation” to be complete, which simply meant that no one had yet been named the culprit.