Anguished mom blames hospital for pregnant teen's death, demands justice
Published:Friday | December 13, 2024 | 4:48 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer -
Spanish Town, St Catherine
A grieving mother has accused the Spanish Town Hospital of negligence after the tragic death of her 14-year-old daughter, Anna-Shay Campbell, on Tuesday morning.
The devastated family staged a protest outside the hospital, claiming that the medical staff's reluctance to perform a C-section contributed to the young girl's demise during childbirth.
Christine Campbell, the mother of the deceased, recounted the painful ordeal, alleging that despite her explicit consent for a Caesarean section, hospital personnel insisted on a natural birth.
"I signed the forms. I begged them to do the C-section, but they refused. They told me everything would be fine, and now my baby is gone," she said with tears in her eyes.
Campbell, described by her mother as "a pretty little girl who made a mistake," became pregnant after a relationship with a 15-year-old boy. While the authorities are aware of the circumstances, a charge of statutory rape cannot be enforced due to both parties being minors.
"She is young and she is tiny but she done get pregnant, so I bring her out here [to the hospital] Monday and dem sey doctors on strike so I asked for a referral to take her somewhere else and they say it don’t make sense," Campbell told The Gleaner.
She admitted to taking her daughter back home but said the teen was showing signs of extreme discomfort so she took her back to the hospital
The elder Campbell expressed outrage at the hospital's handling of her daughter's case, emphasising that the family's pleas for urgent surgical intervention were ignored.
“She was in so much pain. They kept telling us to wait, that the baby would come naturally. But when it didn’t happen, they still delayed. Why didn’t they listen to me? My daughter could have been saved, now they are saying she had a long and hard labour."
The mother’s anguish was echoed by other family members who joined the protest outside the hospital. Holding signs demanding accountability, they called for an independent investigation into Anna-Shay's death.
“This is not just about my daughter,” the elder Campbell said. “How many more young girls will have to die because the system failed them?”
Medical professionals at Spanish Town Hospital have yet to provide an official response to the allegations, though hospital sources suggest that the case is under review.
As Christine Campbell struggles to come to terms with her daughter’s death, she is determined to seek justice.
“She made a mistake, but the price she paid should never have been her life,” she said. "Anna-Shay was just a child with her whole life ahead of her. Someone has to answer for what happened to her.”
The family has indicated they intend to pursue legal action if necessary and hope their ordeal will spur changes in how vulnerable patients are treated.
Efforts to get responses from hospital authorities were been unsuccessful up to press time.