Woman cries foul; claims infection at 37 Military Hospital killed her baby

A woman who lost her newly born baby Tuesday due to what she claimed to be infection at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the 37 Military Hospital in Accra has threatened to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion.

According to the woman (name withheld), after delivery Monday, the baby was taken to the NICU unit for monitoring where it was given oxygen, noting she was consequently asked to go home and come back the next day.

“Before I left, the baby was in a good condition; both the nurse and doctor confirmed she was in a good condition,” she told host of Sunrise morning show on 3FM, Winston Amoah on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, when I came back on Tuesday to breast feed my baby, they were just tossing me and asking me to wait for the doctor.

I waited for a very long time. Finally, when I met the doctor around 11:30am, she asked me if I knew the baby was not breathing properly before she was brought to the ICU.

I said yes I knew about it. “Then she [the doctor] told me suction was done and the condition had improved. She added that before she left on Monday, the baby was in a good condition but when she returned this morning she was told the baby had died.

Then she said she was sorry,” the traumatised woman narrated. According to her, there were other babies who died at the NICU due to the infection at the place, claiming the hospital was fumigating the unit at the time because of the infection .

“There was an infection in the hospital and the place was being fumigated.

My baby wasn’t the only one that died; there were other babies,” she claimed, adding she has lost confidence in the hospital. Earlier, there were reports that some five babies had lost their lives at the hospital’s Unit due to the said infection but the hospital has since denied the claim, explaining that the ongoing fumigation exercise is a routine one to sanitize the place.

Public Relations Officer of the Hospital, Major Gariba Pabi told Onua FM Wednesday he was only aware of the death of the woman and not the others claimed by the woman.

He said it was unfortunate the death of coincided with the infection at the hospital.