Woman gives birth in minibus

Aug 07, 2008 News

A 26-year-old woman yesterday gave birth to her first child in a minibus, because desperate efforts to get her into the delivery room at the West Demerara Regional Hospital proved to be a little too late.
Even though afflicted with a speech impediment and suffering some hearing loss, the young woman, Marla Devi, related that early yesterday morning she begun feeling pains that caused her to believe that her baby was coming.
Devi, who lives alone at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, said that she informed one of her cousins of her situation and requested to be brought to the hospital. According to Marla, a minibus was summoned to transport her but for some reason took a very long time to get to her. It was travelling from Leonora, four miles away.
She added that it was when the minibus was almost at the hospital she realised that some bloody substance was being discharged.
It was soon after the bus had parked just outside of the maternity ward at the West Demerara regional Hospital at about 09:00 hours that the woman said that she felt the actual form of the baby and sought to hold it up even as she experienced some pain.
After it was ascertained that the baby was already delivered, hospital staffers then proceeded to tend to the woman. She then learnt that she had given birth to a son.
Both the woman and her baby were found to be in a good healthy condition and up to yesterday afternoon they were resting peacefully in the hospital’s maternity ward.
However, the woman related that while she does not know when she will be discharged, she knows that she will have to find employment in order to care of her new born baby. She said that she is willing to do domestic work.
Marla explained that at the moment the father of the child is in the Interior and is not even aware that she has given birth. Yesterday the relative of another young mother expressed concern over Marla and the child’s wellbeing, and even provided Marla with a meal since no one had visited her at lunchtime.