Hospital Administrator Grace Walters has responded to a claim that dead babies are being stored inappropriately at the hospital morgue.
Her response comes in light of a news article published by iWitness News, on June 13th, under the headline “ Mother threatens to sue hospital over baby’s body” , t was noted that a mother of a deceased 3-month old baby said, that when she visited the hospital morgue she saw many babies decomposing.
The hospital Administrator however told SVGTV News that the morgue is functioning efficiently, noting that while it does not have the capacity to freeze bodies, it is capable of housing them for extended periods of time.
As it relates to the body of an infant, Walters said the very same conditions in the morgue could impact the integrity of the body’s preservation.
Walters noted that the hospital only stores the bodies of infants until direction on their burial is given by the parent or parents following a miscarriage or still birth.
Walters pointed out that deceased babies are usually wrapped and appropriately stored at the morgue, and if the hospital is unsuccessful in all of its attempts to contact a parent/ parents of a deceased baby, it will be buried.
In the instance of a live birth however, the hospital administrator said the process is different and there can be some delays as it relates to the issuance of a death certificate, for varying reasons usually related to the parent (s).
The hospital also highlighted that in the event there is a system failure at the morgue, different funeral homes normally assist with housing the bodies.
In reference to the story published by iWitness news about the mother who threatens to sue the hospital over an autopsy conducted on the body of her 3-month-old baby without her consent, Walters said an investigation was conducted and she is satisfied that all protocols were followed.
