Woman Alleges Violent Treatment During Childbirth in Jēkabpils Hospital

A 35-year-old woman, Sandra, alleges she endured violent and unprofessional treatment during the birth of her third child at a hospital in Jēkabpils, Latvia. Despite having positive prior experiences, this birth took a traumatic turn when mechanical intervention reportedly triggered excruciating, continuous contractions. The newborn required nearly ten minutes of resuscitation after birth and remains under medical supervision due to potential harm from oxygen deprivation to the brain. Sandra, now in Riga with her baby at the Children's Clinical University Hospital, contrasted the supportive care in Riga with her experience in Jēkabpils. She has formally complained to the Jēkabpils Regional Hospital board, the Health Inspectorate, the Ombudsman's office, the prosecutor's office, and the Latvian Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians. Her complaint details alleged unethical, unprofessional, and potentially criminal negligence by medical staff, psychological manipulation of the patient, and artificially induced rapid labor that endangered the newborn. The article notes that such accounts, while specific to Jēkabpils in this instance, are not isolated and have been reported from other Latvian cities as well.

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In Riga, all the staff are so responsive, professional, and supportive that it feels like Riga, Daugavpils, and Jēkabpils are in different countries.