FROM LEFT, Sandra Estwick, mother of the deceased Anntawn Piggott (centre picture), being comforted by boyfriend Wayne Babb. At right, Rommel Drakes looking after his son Ratawn after the sad news. (Pictures by Cherie Pitt.)

by MELISSA WICKHAM

A ST MICHAEL FAMILY is grief-stricken after a young mother died mysteriously, two weeks after delivering a healthy baby boy by Caesarean section.

Anntawn Piggott, a 22-year-old unemployed first-time mother and contestant in the 2004 Miss Teen Barbados Pageant, died suddenly in the wee hours of Sunday morning after complaining of abdominal pain for a number of days.

Her mother, Sandra Estwick, of First Avenue Fairfield, Black Rock, was inconsolable when the DAILY NATION paid her a visit yesterday.

In between sobs, she explained that her daughter went to see a doctor at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) last Thursday after the pain got worse and she started experiencing an odorous discharge. An ultrasound showed that Piggott had a blood clot and she was prescribed three different medications: Duricef, Flagyl and Panadol.

Estwick said Piggott, a past student of the Grantley Adams Memorial School, did not get the prescription filled right away because the line at the dispensary was too long and she returned home.

"She had the baby, so she came back home. I work for a pharmacist so I asked him to fill the prescription and he sorted it out then [Anntawn] took the medication. I was angry when she told me what the doctor had said; that they didn't clean her out properly.

"What was coming from her body wasn't good; it didn't smell good at all. It smelled like something had died inside of her; this water kept running out of her. She kept saying: 'Mummy, I got to find out what this is,'" Estwick said.

Up to Saturday, Piggott was in good spirits, laughing and talking with friends. She even planned to go to church Sunday morning but, unfortunately, never made it. That was why her death came as such a shock, said her mother.

"Saturday, I went to a function, she did my hair and everything and I came back and she came out and we were talking as normal. I went to bed and, in the night, I heard the little baby crying. I know he normally gets up about 3 a.m. to nurse. I got up and shouted for her: 'Anntawn! Anntawn!' but she didn't answer me.

"I went to her bedroom and shook her and shook her but she didn't move."

After the ambulance arrived, Estwick realised her worst fears – her daughter was dead.

Piggott leaves behind her son Ratawn Drakes, her mother and three siblings – Stephen Estwick, Dwayne Piggott and Dominic Babb.

The baby, said Estwick, would be raised by her and his paternal grandmother. She said she was in too much grief to decide what course of action she would take at the moment.

When contacted QEH public relations consultant, Ricardo Blackman declined to comment, saying: "It would be unethical for us to make a comment about any patient."