KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller is calling on the minister of health to apologise for suggesting that newborns who died at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital recently, are believed to have contracted a bacterial infection from their mothers.

“Minister Christopher Tufton owes these grieving mothers an apology for blaming them for the death of their babies. I cannot imagine how much additional pain has been inflicted on these women who are already dealing with the loss of their newborns,” Simpson Miller said.

The Opposition leader said what is worse, the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the babies has not been completed.

“For the minister to make such a disclosure without evidence is not only irresponsible, but callous. His statement appears to be an attempt to deflect blame to the already emotionally vulnerable mothers,” Simpson Miller said.

Simpson Miller is also supporting the recommendation of the Opposition spokesperson on health, Horace Dalley, that an independent neonatologist and a public health specialist be included in the team appointed to investigate the deaths of the babies.