The mother of a newborn girl
who died in an ambulance after being sent away from a Sicilian
hospital for lack of space vented her desperation and anger on
Facebook on Friday, saying she hadn't even been allowed to hold
her baby.
Meanwhile several people were placed under investigation
for the death, which took place in an ambulance rushing from
Catania to Ragusa.
"They didn't let me see her, to hug her, to stroke her
little hand and let her feel I was close to her: they took her
away without me getting to give her her first and last
greeting," said the baby's mother, Tania Laura Egitto.
"My little one, you'll live forever in our hearts, I'll
remember every little movement you made inside me until just
before your birth.
"You were and will always be my wild little dancer. I love
you, mummy's darling," said Egitto on Facebook, posting a photo
of herself pregnant.
"You will soon have justice and peace," Egitto added,
saying "what they said on the TV news isn't the whole truth, by
any means".
One of Nicole's grandparents, who preferred not to be
named, told reporters: "The health system in Sicily is
absolutely disastrous, almost criminal".
Catania Prosecutor Giovanni Salvi said Friday that several
people were formally under investigation in the case.
But Salvi also stressed that this move was necessary for
people involved in the care of the baby to "have all the
elements to be able to defend themselves".
The prosecutor added that it was a complicated case and
that so far no "precise responsibility" for the death had been
pinned to anyone.
Nicole was born in a private clinic in Catania on
Wednesday night, but when she developed breathing complications
medical staff quickly tried to move her to a neonatal intensive
care facility in the same city.
However, it was too crowded so an ambulance then tried to
rush the newborn to the intensive care facility at a pediatric
hospital in Ragusa.
The two cities lie about 105 kilometres apart by road.
The baby died en route even as doctors in the ambulance
tried to revive her.
On Thursday Italian President Sergio Mattarella phoned
Sicilian Governor Rosario Crocetta to say how "incredulous" he
was at the case.
Mattarella, elected last month to replace Giorgio
Napolitano, is Italy's first president from Sicily.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said Friday: "Things
like this aren't supposed to happen".
But she said before taking any action, she would wait for
inspectors to report on what happened.
That will include assessing if basic levels of care are
properly available, she said.
"I await the results from inspectors before I take any
decisions or initiatives," including whether a commissioner
should be appointed again to oversee regional care, she said.
According to a survey released Friday, a fifth of cases of
medical negligence or bungling in Italy happens with births or
neonatal care.
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