A 39-year-old woman who says she miscarried in a washroom at De Kinderen Regional Hospital in October is seeking answers about her care after repeatedly telling staff she was in severe pain and had begun bleeding.
Untammo Matthews told Kiskadee Watch she was 11 weeks and one day pregnant when she went to the West Coast Demerara hospital with flu-like symptoms. She said she told staff how far along she was and that she had taken no medication before coming in. She said she was given an injection and sent home with instructions to return if she continued to feel unwell.
Matthews said she returned shortly after 1 a.m. when her symptoms recurred. A different doctor gave her what she believed was the same injection, she said. About five minutes later, she began to feel severe abdominal pain. When she went to the washroom, she noticed she was bleeding.
“I come back and I tell them that I am bleeding and this pain is getting frequently, like every five minutes,” Matthews said.
She said the doctor told her to lie down and relax. “I tell the doctor that I came here and I didn’t have any pain. I just came here for symptoms,” she recalled.
Matthews said the bleeding became so heavy that it soaked through her clothes. Her husband helped her back to the washroom, where she said she miscarried. She asked him to call the doctor.
“The doctor never show up,” she said. Matthews said a nurse came with a garbage bag to collect what she had passed.
Matthews said staff performed an ultrasound and told her that her uterus was clear. She said a gynaecologist also assessed her before she was sent home. When her symptoms continued, she went to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, commonly known as Best Hospital. Matthews said staff there told her that blood remained in her uterus and that she was admitted for about a week.
She said she did not follow up with De Kinderen after that admission because she felt she did not have the money to pursue the matter.
“I never really followed it up because I said maybe you know when you don’t have money, everything is going to pass,” Matthews said.
When Kiskadee Watch contacted the hospital for comment, it was told that the official who could respond was out and that the emergency department was the only department operating that day.
De Kinderen Regional Hospital was commissioned on August 11, 2025, nearly 15 months ago. It offers obstetrics and gynaecology services and has a 24-hour emergency department.
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