…But doctor says cardiac failure may be the cause of death

News Five spoke with a doctor in private practice in Corozal Town who attended to Chi after her ordeal at the hospital. The doctor, whose name we cannot reveal, said that in his judgment, because Chi’s pregnancy was two weeks overdue, and her baby was still alive when she was admitted on Sunday, the death of the child could have been avoided. Today, through the help of our colleagues at C.T.V. Three in Orange Walk, we got the hospital’s version of events from the Medical Chief of Staff in Corozal, Doctor Nelson Marin, and he says the baby’s death appeared to be cardiac failure.

Dr. Nelson Marin, Medical Chief of Staff, Corozal Hospital
“Everything was perfectly fine from the induction to about ten o’clock the night when the patient started showing dilations. So by—she started ten o’clock and by midnight the baby was born. All through the process of delivery, the fetal heart rate was checked. No problem was there, no signs of alterations with the baby. So when the contractions started to begin a little bit stronger and the baby was born, that’s when we—the baby was born without a heartbeat. So there was that small process which sometimes happens when the contractions are a bit too—maybe the baby has a cardiac malfunction or circulation problems and those kinds of problems affect the high pressure of the contractions. Obviously, that has to be investigated, but the point is actually from the time the patient came in to the birth of the baby, even after, there was a controlled baby and the patient. Like I said, we have a gynaecologist here twenty four-seven so she was monitored at all times. Everything that could have been done was done.”

We could not reach the Minister of Health, Pablo Marin, for comment because is out of the country.