“I want justice!”, said the waiter William Samuel dos Santos, 28 years old, visibly downcast, minutes before entering the chapel of the Municipal Cemetery of Brotas, this Saturday morning (22). He then positioned himself next to the small funerary urn, lowered his head and fixed his gaze, while caressing the face of Laila Maria, his firstborn and one of the babies who died before giving birth at Maternidade Albert Sabin, in the neighborhood of Cajazeiras, in Salvador.
The deaths occurred on the same day and the parents accuse the institution of medical negligence in both cases, which occurred on Tuesday (18), since the children were considered healthy. “It is not possible for anyone to be held responsible. My daughter and the other child who died were also in very good health. They said that Laila had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, and the ultrasound showed nothing of that”, he said.
William also said that three other deaths occurred in the maternity ward. “What people told me today is that three babies died from Monday to today. I saw a woman leaving crying only in a child’s clothes”, reported the waiter.
In a note, the Health Department of Bahia (Sesab) denies the existence of other deaths.
Laila’s burial started an hour late, at 11:30 am. Her mother, Aila Daltro, 26, is still in the maternity ward. “She wanted to come, but she is not in good health. We are very shaken, because we wanted our daughter so much,” she said.
The Secretary of Health of the State of Bahia (Sesab) will set up an investigation to investigate deaths in the maternity ward. In a note, the folder lamented the death of the child.
“The Secretary of Health of the State of Bahia and the management of the Albert Sabin maternity hospital are dismayed by the situation, as every maternity hospital is a place that symbolizes life. Death causes pain and sadness for family members and the entire care team”, says the note.
Sesab also says that the family is receiving psychological assistance. “The Department of Health of the State of Bahia will immediately initiate an investigation to investigate the fact in detail and identify any omission and/or misconduct on the part of the professionals. The family is being assisted by the unit’s team of psychologists and social workers”, says the folder.
According to William, Ailla had to go to the maternity ward three times to be admitted. “On Saturday [15], my wife attended the maternity ward in severe pain. They did the touch exam three times and told her to keep walking, to stimulate, and, after almost 10 hours of waiting, they released her”, she recalled.
On Sunday (16), the procedure would have been repeated, with the difference that medication was given to the pregnant woman in order to ease her pain. When she returned on Monday (17), already with strong contractions, she was finally admitted. “They said that the dilation was 5 cm and, even so, they refused to do the cesarean section, even though my wife begged to do it.
In the second case, the child who died while still in the womb would be called Tainá. According to her mother, Daiane de Jesus, 41, it took two trips to the Albert Sabin Maternity Hospital before she was hospitalized. “I came to a consultation on the 12th, and the girl started to contract. Then, when I arrived at the emergency room, the doctor told me that she could not admit me, because I only had ‘one finger’ of dilation and, as I had already had other children through normal delivery, that, for her, was nothing”, said Daiane, who is already a mother of seven, about the experience on the 12th.
The pregnant woman then returned to the maternity ward on Tuesday. “The belly was hard, and I started to feel pain. […] Then, when I got here and went to listen to the child’s heart, she already had no vital signs”, recalled the woman, informed that the cause of death was placental abruption. It’s something that could have been done on the 12th, which I was contracting, but without pain”, lamented the woman.
