Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the San Fernando General Hospital Dr Krishna Rampersadsingh says more people are coming to the public hospitals to deliver babies instead of opting for private nursing homes.His comments came as seven babies were delivered on New Year's Day at the institution. Three more women were expected to give birth via caesarian section.
Rampersadsingh was joined by South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) director of health Dr Shivanand Gopeesingh, head nurse Rookmin Pirmal and nurse Flori Seunarine.Among the first mothers to give birth were:
�2 Aarti Nagessar, 27, who delivered fraternal twins Ashley and Ishmael at 12.06 am and 12.35 am, respectively. The twins weighed 3.06 kilogrammes and 2.5 kilogrammes.
�2 Melissa Charles, 34, of St Mary's Village, Moruga, who delivered a baby boy named Omarie Johnson at 4.13 am.
�2 Dupattie Narine who gave birth to a 3.38 kg baby boy named Videsh.
Nagessar, of Dow Village, California, praised the hospital staff. She said when complications developed during Ashley's birth, the medical team worked expertly to make sure she and her babies were comfortable."I want to say thanks to Dr Jaggernauth because they were really good to me," Nagessar said.Melissa also said she felt honoured to have a baby on New Year's Day."I wasn't expecting this at all...I supposed to have this baby at Christmas," she said.
Rampersadsingh, who was on call on New Year's Day, said he was ecstatic about the positive response from patients."It's a great feeling for the hospital staff because we sometimes get negative comments, but we are working towards improving our service at the hospital," he said.He revealed that there are now usually between 15 and 20 births a day."There must be planning for every delivery...We plan the management and we utilise whatever equipment we have," Rampersadsingh said.
Asked how the shortage of equipment was affecting operations, Rampersadsingh said: "We have ordered equipment from the ministry. Some have arrived already and we are waiting for the others. We have foetal monitors, ultrasound machines to visualise the foetus properly, we have regular sessions for the junior doctors and we are getting more specialists passing the exams."
He also said a review was done on the obstetrics and gynaecology wards and 24 recommendations were made. Eighteen have already been fulfilled.Gopeesingh added that the hospital was well on its way to giving first world care.
"We have more changes, in that we have more ward rounds, a 24-hour obstetrics theatre and we have expanded the number of obstetricians working in the department. We have more intensive monitoring of patients," Gopeesingh said, adding people now have more confidence in the public health system.