Baby falls to the floor from mom’s womb

A26-year-old mother said she is alarmed that the space issue at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital has not changed even after her son fell from her womb on to the floor of the institution seven years ago.

Jane* told THE WEEKEND STAR that when she was 19, she went to the hospital to give birth for the first time.

She was in pain but was told to sit on the available chairs as there were not enough beds. When she felt her son coming and rushed to the nurse, she was told to sit back down.

“I could feel the head between my legs … I was standing when my baby fell to the floor. I looked down on my baby and saw that it was a boy. He was peeing and all the stuff that came out with him was all over his face. I tried to reach for him to wipe his face off and take him up but I blacked out,” she said.

It was only after she woke up that she was able to hold her baby. Jane was worried that her son had hit his head and was severely injured.

Depsite some bruises, her son was otherwise unhurt.

She thought that things would have improved at the hospital but last year she had to share a bed when she went to deliver her daughter.

SPIKE IN DELIVERIES

“I had to lay on the bed beside another mother to be delivered,” she said.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said that during this time of year, known as crop season, there is a spike in deliveries.

He said that he and the ministry have some medium term goals in mind to get more beds, but in the short term they are utilising reclining chairs so expecting mothers are able to relax while they wait.

“We just bought in 200 reclining chairs to put in a number of hospitals to compensate. You can recline in it and kind of relax in it but it is not a bed because it does not have the space for a bed. They will be distributed across the country to deal with the excess capacity issues,” he said.