Shamika Flowers will never get the closure of burying the remains of her unborn child because someone threw it away. As we reported, Flowers had a miscarriage on Friday and she told the attendants at the Northern Regional Hospital that she wanted the fetus so she could bury it. She even signed a form stating that she would get the remains. But there was some major breakdown in communication and someone threw away or probably burnt the remains. Today CEO in the Ministry of Health Dr. Ramon Figueroa told us that measures will be put in place so this never happens again.
Dr. Ramon Figueroa, CEO - Ministry of Health
"In terms of an actual medical care, I think everything was done as they were supposed to do, but I think it's after the collection of the fetus, the product, there seems to have been, I want to say maybe misunderstanding. We are still trying to find out where the process failed, but I know that there was a signed form by the parents saying that they wanted the product and somebody slipped along the line and did not pass that information on to people who regularly dispose of these and disposed of the product. If the family wants the product, then we are entitled, we should be responsible enough to provide that to the family. I know there is an emotional link, obviously it was clear yesterday 
with the interview of the mother, she was emotionally distraught and we understand that. I think we need to respect that and pay more attention to people to understand that emotional aspect of spontaneous abortions and miscarriages and be a little bit more sensitive to people. It's not about targeting the particular individual because I think you can find some reasons why it happened. It's the process itself that failed us and we want to make sure that it does not happen again."
Figueroa says no one will be penalized or fired per say but the Hospital's Regional Manager will meet with staff to review and improve the procedures regarding these cases. He also told us that the Ministry is willing to provide psychological assistance to the mother to try and cope with this loss and if the family needs financial help, they will do their best to assist.
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