Sando doctors probe mother’s death

SAN Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) authorities have launched an internal investigation into the death of Patricia Montrichard, the pregnant woman who died on Monday while she delivered her third child, a girl, through Caesarian section.

South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Communications Specialist Zenobia Nanan told Newsday a panel had been formed to conduct the investigation, the results of which will be released to Montrichard’s family upon completion.  Nanan was reluctant to name who will be leading the inquiry or the other members of the panel. Attempts yesterday to reach SFGH Medical Chief of Staff Austin Trinidade proved futile. Yesterday’s autopsy on Montrichard’s body revealed death was due to amniotic fluid embolus, ie fluid from the pregnant woman’s water bag travelled up to her lungs causing a blockage and eventual suffocation. The autopsy was carried out at the San Fernando Mortuary and witnessed by Montrichard’s family. Relatives were told by other patients on the Maternity Ward of SFGH that on Monday morning, Montrichard fell and hit her head while in the washroom.

According to relatives, she was three weeks’ overdue for delivery when she was admitted to hospital. Around 11.45 am, she was declared dead in the operating theatre. Meanwhile Montrichard’s newborn baby girl, who survived the birthing process, remains in an incubator at the SFGH nursery and is being closely monitored by doctors and nurses. At birth, the girl was experiencing breathing difficulties, hence the reason for her being placed in the incubator. Doctors have given the child a 40-60 percent chance of survival.