Political prisoner couple's newborn dies in Myanmar jail due to delayed medical help

Khalid Umar Malik
21 Jun 2022, 13:04 GMT+10

According to a close friend, the infant son of a 24-year-old woman imprisoned in Yangon's Insein Prison throughout her pregnancy died after prison authorities failed to bring her to the ...
Cherry Bo Kyi Naing, who had carried the child to term, began experiencing heavy bleeding on May 20 and informed prison staff that she needed to be taken to the hospital immediately.
"It took three hours to get permission from the authorities to send her to the hospital, and it took even longer when they discovered the ambulance was out of fuel," she explained.

YANGON, Myanmar - According to a close friend, the infant son of a 24-year-old woman imprisoned in Yangon's Insein Prison throughout her pregnancy died after prison authorities failed to bring her to the hospital to address severe labor complications.

Cherry Bo Kyi Naing, who had carried the child to term, began experiencing heavy bleeding on May 20 and informed prison staff that she needed to be taken to the hospital immediately.

"It took three hours to get permission from the authorities to send her to the hospital, and it took even longer when they discovered the ambulance was out of fuel," she explained.

She went on to say that by the time Cherry Bo Kyi Naing arrived at the hospital, doctors had determined she had suffered a placental abruption.

Despite an emergency cesarean section, her son died minutes later due to a low heart rate.

Cherry Bo Kyi Naing and her husband, Aung Thiha Hein, were arrested in Yangon's Kamayut Township in September last year when she was already pregnant.

Aung Thiha Hein, 23, is also detained in Insein and has been sentenced to death for terrorism charges, along with former National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarian Phyo Zayar Thaw, who the junta named as the mastermind behind numerous attacks on the coup regime targets in Yangon.