String of neonatal deaths at Victoria Jubilee Hospital triggers probe

 

A string of neonatal deaths at Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) has triggered a full-scale probe after multiple premature babies died under so-far unclear circumstances. 

 

Lascelles Brown, Regional Director at the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), on Thursday afternoon confirmed the deaths at the largest maternity hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean.

 

Speaking with Radio Jamaica News, Mr. Brown was unable to say how many babies have died since June 1, but he said in response, SERHA on Wednesday convened a meeting to further investigate the cause of death of the neonates.

 

"The meeting was convened to discuss matters surrounding the deaths of some premature babies and the regional technical team, the regional technical director and the other specialists, including the SMO (senior medical officer) at VJH, they are currently conducting deeper analysis to find out what the nature or the cause of those deaths is. So I'm not able to speak on the matter in much detail in terms of what would have been the cause and the outcomes."

 

The regional director, who noted that he had not received confirmation on the number of dead neonates, said he will await reports arising from the meeting before making a definitive statement on the matter. 

 

Still, a cautious Mr. Brown noted that the death of neonates around this time of year is not new.

 

"Premature babies have died and that has happened from time to time - and especially coming up to this time of the year, what we consider to be the peak season, when you have more births, you usually we have an increase in premature babies and some have not made it. But in this case, I wouldn't be able to speak on the matter because I don't want to speak out of turn without having the facts," he reiterated. 

 

Data from UNICEF up to 2023, shows that for everyone 1000 live births, 19.3 infants die before their first birthday in Jamaica.