Condemnation over baby's death
Dec 4, 2007 6:23 PM
The death of a baby who was discharged from hospital soon after being born has raised serious concerns about maternity services in Wellington.
It has also prompted strong condemnation from both Helen Clark and the health minister and a top hospital official has admitted that the newborn and mother should have been kept in care.
Joan Curle has been counselling the couple whose baby died after the mother was discharged from Wellington Hospital five-and-a-half hours after giving birth.
The parents are unhappy with both the hospital and the midwife.
"They believe that she did make the wrong choice. I think they feel the hospital let them down as in there was no back-up system," said Curle, counsellor.
The midwife was associated with the Domino Group of midwives operating in the city.
The clinical director of the hospital's women's health services says if he had been lead carer, the mother and baby would have been kept in the hospital for longer.
"If you're really asking me, we wouldn't have sent the woman home," said John Tait, Capital and Coast DHB.
Last Wednesday, the mother was induced and after 20 hours of labour, the baby was born at 5am on Thursday.
After discussion with their midwife the couple left the hospital at around 10:30am.
The following morning at around 1am the father noticed the baby was having difficulty breathing and called 111.
Later that morning the baby died.
Capital and Coast's DHB say it was the independent midwife's responsibility.
"Our role in this case was always consultative. So the registrar was never, or neither was our shift co-ordinator, consulted about this baby's discharge. We are not allowed to take over the care of these patients," said Tait.
The hospital says its policy of having mothers leave within six hours from birth was not the reason the parents left.
"Absolutely not, because this woman would never have fitted our criteria for early discharge anyway," said Tait.
The events surrounding the baby's death have drawn a rebuke from the top.
"The minister and indeed the entire government deplore the way Capital Coast Health has behaved," Prime Minister Helen Clark said in the House on Tuesday.
The tragedy follows last week's decision by the hospital to reverse plans to offer second time mothers grocery vouchers if they took their newborns home with six hours.
And earlier this year the hospital's paediatric oncology department was thrown into crisis with the resignation of its only specialist.
The Health Minister has also expressed his concern.
"I am deeply concerned at a number of recent events and reports surrounding Capital Coast DHB," said David Cunliffe.
The government has not ruled out calling in a commissioner to run the hospital.
The parents are now preparing for their baby daughter's funeral.
"They didn't know that they could stay at the hospital and they would've preferred to stay in hospital but nobody from the hospital asked them," said Curle.
Source: ONE News
Responsibility of hospitals to care for mothers and newborns...what happened to it?
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