Wilhelmina Iimene
The family of 11-day-old baby girl Eleanor Gwenyth Griffiths, who died in the intensive care unit of the Windhoek Central Hospital, is accusing the medical staff of negligence.
The baby’s mother, Leena Griffiths, said she had an emergency Caesarean section on 3 February 2022, and the baby was immediately admitted to the ICU as she was premature. She told New Era that as days went by, the baby was getting stronger and better.
She was discharged on 6 February, but the baby remained in hospital. She was informed the baby needed to be fed at two-hour intervals, and that it was her responsibility to do so between 08h00 and 18h00. The hospital was to take responsibility from 18h00 until 08h00 the following day. She further stated that the head nurse had explained to her that should she not be available to feed the baby, the hospital would take responsibility.
On 12 February 2022, Griffiths went to the hospital as usual to feed her baby. To her horror, she was informed that the baby had not been fed for more than five hours because the nurse who took over the rotation claimed that she was not informed about the feeding of the baby.
On 14 February, the mother saw that her baby had been put on a different oxygen tank, and was advised by the head nurse against feeding her. She noted that there was blood in the oxygen pipe, and even her saliva had blood in it. The nurse had told her that she could not explain why it was so. She was also informed by a doctor that the baby vomited during the night due to excessive feeding.
On the same day, Griffiths noticed that her baby was having trouble breathing. She informed the head nurse, who then called the doctor.
“I was told to leave the room while they worked on my baby. Minutes later, there were about seven doctors in the room and about half-an-hour later, I was informed that my baby had died. They told me that her system was not strong enough to fight the infection.”
The mother claimed that she was not informed about possible infections or complications that the baby may have contracted after birth.
“I was informed the hospital did not have blood collection tubes, and so they could not carry [out] blood tests,” the mother added.
According to new hospital findings provided by Regina Hynek, the deceased’s aunt, the hospital admitted to the family that they did not feed the infant more than once, and that the nurses who were on duty were allegedly reprimanded and given warnings by the superintendent.
The aunt claimed that it was the duty of the hospital to take care of the baby while in ICU as the mother had already been discharged. She further claimed that the central hospital had failed to do their part in caring for a human being who was left in their care.
“The hospital denies that negligence was the cause of the infant’s death. They reasoned that baby Eleanor’s death was caused by a blood infection. The baby’s parents and my family believe that the hospital neglecting to feed the weak infant has very much to do with her death, yet they do not take accountability for baby Eleanor’s death,” Hynek continued.
The hospital could not give details about the cause of death when asked to comment.
“The baby received the appropriate treatment. The details of the baby’s treatment are available on record and cannot, for the sake of patient confidentiality, be shared with the media. The treatment and feeding regime during her stay in the hospital was shared with the family at all relevant times,” said executive director Ben Nangombe in a statement.
“We are pleading with the ministry of health to finally do something. Helpless people are dying every day in these hospitals, and the Namibian government is turning a blind eye,” Hynek told New Era.