Newborn baby dies

An autopsy has been scheduled for today at the San Fernando Mortuary which will hopefully shed more light on exactly how or what caused newborn baby Akeilon Glasgow’s death.

His parents Akeil Glasgow, 33, and Nekisha Henry, 26, are calling on Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan and those in authority to investigate the circumstances which led to their son being sent home with a clean bill of health by officials at the Pt Fortin Health Centre. They believe negligence had a part in their son’s demise.

Due to a yellowing of the baby’s skin, the parents believed their son may have had Jaundice and took him to the health centre. However, the baby’s condition, the parents claimed, was “taken lightly” by health officials. Jaundice occurs in newborns when the bilirubin, a pigment in the blood, rises. As a result the skin begins to look yellow.

Baby Akeilon was born on Saturday shortly after midnight and died two days later. After giving birth, first time mother Henry was discharged from Pt Fortin District Area Hospital. Speaking yesterday outside the Pt Fortin Police Station, an emotional Glasgow said words could not explain his feelings.

“I thought the sky was the limit for my son. Like every father, I was looking forward to him growing up,” Glasgow said as he struggled to hold back his tears. Glasgow said he still can’t understand how or why officials at the health centre could say nothing was wrong with his son when he (Glasgow) brought him after noticing the yellowing of baby Akeilon’s skin.

He said the skin on the baby’s arms and chest began turning yellow and both he and Henry became worried. Even worse, baby Akeilon become irritable and began refusing his mother’s breast milk. “He just kept crying and crying and I knew something was wrong,” Glasgow said.

He said he remained in the waiting area of the Health Centre while his wife and son went into the observation room. Glasgow said his wife and son exited the room not too long after. “She said that they told her that everything was going to be okay and that the yellowish colour on the baby’s skin would fade after a while. That is what they told her,” Glasgow said.

He said his wife was also given some milk formula to feed baby Akeilon as he was refusing to suckle. The couple left the Health Centre and went to their Sixth Street, Techier Village, Pt Fortin home later that day (Monday).

“Neiksha prepared the new milk and fed Akeilon and ensured he belched before putting him to the crib to sleep,” Glasgow said. Two hours later, the baby was unresponsive. “He was not waking up. We rushed him to Pt Fortin Hospital and doctors tried to resuscitate him. But he was already dead,” Glasgow said.

Glasgow said if officials at the Health Centre treated his son’s case more seriously and ordered him sent to Hospital, maybe, he would still be alive today. An autopsy is scheduled for today at the San Fernando Mortuary. Glasgow is calling on Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan and others in authority to investigate his son’s death. The parents have given a statement to Pt Fortin Police.