Pregnant women protest Labour of Love closure WAVING PLACARDS and shouting "Jealousy", and "Conspiracy", scores of angry pregnant women yesterday demonstrated at the Ministry of Health, King Street, on the downtown Kingston waterfront. They, and their supporters from the Women's Rights Group, and Parents for Maternity Rights, converged on the Ministry's offices to protest its closure last week of the "Labour of Love Birth Centre", 22 Deanery Road, Kingston 3. The Ministry closed the midwifery facility for what it said were persistent breaches of the 1934 Nursing Home Act. At the demonstration yesterday former patients of the centre voiced their disapproval of how the Ministry dealt with the matter. They said it was a breach of their right to choose an appropriate facility. "Mary and Joseph did not have a choice. We have one and we want to use it," said Annette Gayle, who had been a patient at the centre. "We did not ask them to protect us from anyone. If they say they are protecting us, why did they not interview persons from Labour of Love and why did they not give a notice to patients of the centre?" she asked. Near-death
experiences Others compared service at Labour of Love to that at the island's major hospitals. "Frankly, I don't see why they are making such a fuss about us being there," said Millicent Findlay, an outpatient of the centre. "I have been at UHWI twice, with two almost near-death experiences. That was the norm until we heard about Labour of Love and the treatment there is excellent," she said. According to Shari Daniels, Labour of Love's clinical director, a victory may not be the end of the issue. "Dr. Figueroa admits that he may have gone about it the wrong way but we have been told that even if we win, that is if we have the decision reversed or they cannot close down under the Public Health Act, they'll help the Nursing Council to take away our licence." The Labour of Love Birth Centre was granted a licence to operate in May 2000 with guidelines not to deliver mothers with high-risk pregnancies. It was closed on May 25, 2001 after periodic monitoring and spot checks by the Standards and Regulations Branch of the Ministry. According to the Ministry, a special audit was done in October at Labour of Love by a team consisting of the Senior Medical Officer of the Victoria Jubilee Maternity Hospital and Ministry of Health personnel. It "uncovered several concerns" and made several recommendations. High-risk
pregnancies These included the timely referral of mothers and that mothers with high-risk pregnancies should not be managed or delivered at the centre. These included mothers with previous Caesarean sections, 16-year-olds or women over 30 years who were having their first pregnancies, had sickle cell disease, or diabetes. For the management of newborns the team recommended that a referral system be put in place for patients who develop problems within the first 24 hours. It recommended also that new-borns with feeding problems and jaundice should be reviewed within 24 hours; that for babies who needed hospitalisation, the receiving hospital must be informed before their arrival, and that the warmth of the transferred new-borns must be ensured. The Ministry said that following reports from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital the centre was given a final written warning in addition to a letter from the Permanent Secretary requesting that the centre immediately comply with the recommendations or face sanctions. The closure is to have a sequel in court today with the midwifery centre seeking to recover documents and computers seized by the Ministry and to have the centre re-opened.
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