After being sent home with her miscarried five-month foetus wrapped in a black garbage bag, 23-year-old mother of one, Tahia Jordan, was told yesterday she would not be able to bury the foetus as it is “not procedure” to give miscarried foetuses under 28 weeks back to parents. Jordan told the media last week at her Trou Macaque home she miscarried the child, who would have been named Kaiden, last Wednesday at her workplace at Rituals Coffee House, Maraval. She said she was taken to the Casualty Department of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where she was attended to before being warded. Jordan added that when she came home last Thursday she found the dead foetus inside the garbage bag which she had assumed contained dirty clothing.
A nurse at the department has been suspended for two weeks with basic salary as a result of the incident, which was described as a clear violation of protocol by North West Regional Health Authority chairman Judith Baliram.
In a brief telephone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, Jordan said she met with the medical chief of staff Dr Pooran, medical director of Health Carol Bhagan-Khan and general operations manager Ernest Ali at the hospital yesterday and was told she would not be able to obtain a death certificate and therfore would not be allowed to bury the foetus legally. Jordan added that she found the response insensitive. She is to meet with the officials again today. In response to Jordan’s comments, Baliram said it was not procedure for a foetus under 28 weeks to be returned to the parents. She added that the hospital was seeking legal advice on the issue which it expected to receive today. She added that the officials did not deny Jordan the opportunity to bury the foetus but wanted to get legal clearance on it.