Doctor says mistakes were made; woman did not have twins

Is there a missing twin? According to the Ministry of Health and Dr. Marcelo Coyi, there is no missing twin.  Dr. Coyi was one of the doctors that thirty-three year old Michel Gonzalez consulted at the clinic at the Corozal Hospital during her pregnancy. He is one of the doctors who told her she was expecting twins as well. This was confirmed by two ultrasounds, done locally and across the Mexican border. So the Corozal mother who is from a family with multiple twins prepared to take home two baby boys. But Gonzalez was only handed a single eight pound baby at the Northern Regional Hospital some nine days ago. She has since made a report to the police because she wants a full investigation. We followed up her compelling story today with the doctor who had recommended surgery, Dr. Coyi. News Five’s Andrea Polanco has the story.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

Michel Gonzalez remains at a cross roads; she got some answers but she refuses to accept the doctor’s opinion. She says she was carrying twins up to the time she went for surgery at the Northern regional hospital.

Michel Gonzalez, Mother

“He tell me he nuh want I feel no way because dah mistake made with the ultrasound; dah only one baby mi di deh.”

Andrea Polanco

“Do you believe this?”

Michel Gonzalez

“Well, no. I nuh believe that because dah two movements mi deh and it mi deh breach cause he fi heself mi check it. So how he wah come and tell me now dah just one heart beat and ih neva mi di function good, he say.”

But Dr. Marcelo Coyi says that it is not possible that Gonzalez was expecting twins. He says that her gestation period and her baby’s weight aren’t of typical twin pregnancies.

Dr. Marcelo Coyi, Gynaecology/Obstetrics

“Well, emm, I reviewed the files this morning. It was filed here and at the hospital in Orange Walk. Looking at it objectively, I don’t think it was a twin pregnancy. I say that because twins normally have to share the maternal nutrition and in general twins are what you call small for dates; they come out five pounds, six pounds. This baby was eight point one pounds so it’s rare for twin babies to be that big. Two, is that twins normally go into labour around thirty-six, thirty-seven weeks. This lady went to forty weeks. So those are two features that do not fit in to a twin pregnancy and fits in what we call a singleton pregnancy.”

Gonzalez says, not so.

Michel Gonzalez

Michel Gonzalez

“I tell ah I nuh reach forty-one just thirty-nine weeks. Suh I tell he I nuh undastand how there is just one heart beat and all along you say it’s two. So why you mek I get operation then? If you mi know dah only one I mi di carry. You test me and tell mi ih breach dats why I need the operation. My ma say that she had twins with seven and a half pounds each but he say no. I tell yes, my ma had big twins, deh neva small like we he di say coulda neva happen.”

Andrea Polanco

“So you believe you could’ve had twin boys who weighed eight pounds; it’s not farfetched?”

Michel Gonzalez

“Yeah. I believe I could’ve had it weigh eight pound or maybe one coulda weigh more than one but I nuh si ah suh I can’t say. One is coulda mi weigh more and one weigh less.”

But Coyi says there was a big error, in not one, but the two ultrasounds that were done in Orange Walk and Chetumal. Both were inaccurate in their prediction of a double pregnancy.

Dr. Marcelo Coyi

Marcelo Coyi

“I think that emm, the error really was in believing the ultrasound that was produced to us here that did says thirty five weeks gestation; one of them at least. I think, looking at it, there is a further error that puts the babies at two point two pounds each and four weeks later, the baby born at eight point one pounds in a period of four weeks. So looking at it, an error was made and that error put everybody to say well, they are twins. The general staff, the nursing staff and everybody trusted on that and now looking back, I think one of the nurses put one fetal heartbeat. Some found two; some found one, you know so there were problems. But because of the trust that we had in the ultrasound and everybody managed the pregnancy on the ultrasound and the labour so I think preparations were made in that direction.”

Andrea Polanco

“But what are the chances that two ultrasounds, one done in Belize, one done in Chetumal can be conclusive that this woman is expecting twins?”

Dr. Marcelo Coyi

“I think we heard one opinion yesterday from the Ministry where, no test is hundred percent. There are false positives and false negatives. It depends on who is doing the ultrasound; you have radiographers, technicians, GP’s and it depends on the level of training of who is doing the ultrasound; the type of machine, is it normal or high resolution, the experience of the person and the age of the baby. The bigger the pregnancy, the more the error because you cannot see the two babies at once with one examination. You have to move the probe to see the two babies and so it is more accurate to make that observation in an early pregnancy where you can see the two sacs side by side.”

But this is the first time Dr. Coyi has seen a case like this.

Andrea Polanco

“How long have you been practicing Dr. Coyi?”

Dr. Marcelo Coyi

“Totally, twenty-four years in Belize.”

Andrea Polanco

“In all your twenty four years, how many times have you witnessed an incident like this one?”

Dr. Marcelo Coyi

“This is the first time; usually the errors are the other way around—when you think it’s a single pregnancy and when you they come for delivery, you get two babies—it’s a shock to everybody.”

Gonzalez believes there’s a cover-up.

Michel Gonzalez

“Each doctor di put up fi the next one to come to a conclusion that dah one pickney I had and only one heart beat deh find.”

Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.

According to our research, there are twin pregnancies that reach forty weeks, although it shows that infant mortality is higher in such cases. Also to note, there have been cases of twins, as recent as 2008, who were born exceeding twenty pounds. We’ll have more from Dr. Marcelo Coyi in Friday night’s newscast.