This is another reminder of what I experienced 20 years ago. Being one week late to register, I could not have my baby at the University Hospital. I gave birth to my son at the Spanish Town Hospital in November 1988.

It was shortly after Hurricane Gilbert, and the conditions were deplorable. I paid for a private room, yet my child and I had to share a bed with another mother and her newborn. That was not as bad as my son being switched. It was my keen eyes that prevented me from raising another woman's child.

Private service

I paid for the private service of a doctor who never showed up. I delivered the baby on my own, as there were two nurses covering the maternity ward and too many mothers in labour. Two days later, I was waiting to be evaluated and stitched by the doctor, and get baby examined, which never materialised. I eventually checked out and went home without being stitched or attended to by the doctor.

Today, I still carry the physical and emotional scars of the event. My son has some medical issues which might have been detected had the doctor attended to us. Thankfully, we live in a country where we have options we would not have otherwise had. Yet, the fact still remains, Spanish Town Hospital took my money, and did not deliver the service I paid for. For the people who are not as fortunate as my son and I, it has to be hell.

It is time that the people managing these hospitals take proper care of their patients so that people do not have to encounter these kinds of issues. Jamaica is not the worst country on Earth. Why do the citizens have to be treated that way?

I am, etc.,

C. CROSS

cmiddleton42@yahoo.com

Atlanta, GA,USA

Via Go-Jamaica