In St. James, Jamaica, a tragic infant death following a delivery at Cornwall Regional Hospital has triggered an official urgent internal review, after the baby’s mother shared a harrowing account of her care experience on social media.
The newborn, delivered to high-risk expectant mother Shandale Ballentine on Good Friday, did not survive the delivery. In an official press statement issued Wednesday, the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), which oversees the facility, confirmed the tragic outcome and extended its deepest sympathies to Ballentine and her grieving family. The hospital has already arranged dedicated psychosocial support services to help the family cope with their loss, the authority added.
The official review was announced after Ballentine took to the popular short-video platform TikTok to publicize what she describes as a “horror story” of high-risk maternity care at the facility. Ballentine, who lived with chronic high blood pressure throughout her pregnancy, first checked into Cornwall Regional Hospital on March 24, 2026. After a four-day observation period, she was discharged with prescription medication to manage her blood pressure. She returned to the facility soon after when she developed concerning swelling across her face, feet, and hands, and was readmitted for delivery monitoring.
According to Ballentine’s account, clinical staff first attempted to induce labor last Thursday, but the attempt failed. A second induction was carried out on Good Friday, after which providers ruptured her amniotic sac. Ballentine recalled that she was in labor alongside another patient who gave birth to her baby at 7:30 a.m. Her own child remained lodged in the birth canal for roughly 30 minutes after the other delivery. In her account, Ballentine begged attending staff to perform an episiotomy – a surgical cut to the vaginal opening to widen the birth canal – but she claims staff responded that their surgical scissors were too dull to cut even old cloth, and refused to perform the procedure. She added that staff even acknowledged the baby had been deprived of oxygen due to the extended entrapment, but still instructed her to push rather than intervening.
WRHA officials emphasized that the hospital is treating the incident with the highest level of urgency, and has committed to full transparency as the review progresses. The authority reiterated its core mission of upholding patient safety and delivering high-quality care to all community members. It also noted that the facility will update the family on the review’s progress at every step, while upholding strict commitments to patient privacy for all involved parties.