'Unnoticed': Woman in coma gives birth to stillborn

[rikkitikkitavi]

'Unnoticed': Woman in coma gives birth to stillborn
Posted Sat Sep 5, 2009 2:09pm AEST
Updated Sat Sep 5, 2009 5:21pm AEST

The Perth hospital in which a woman gave birth to a stillborn baby without staff noticing has defended its level of care.

Sharon May was in an induced coma in intensive care while being treated for pneumonia and swine flu at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Mrs May was 24 weeks' pregnant, when last month while still in a coma she gave birth to a stillborn boy.

He was found in her bed when a nurse checked on her.

Mrs May's husband, Danny, says the system has let the family down.

"I think they failed us big time," he said.

"How can you grieve? The body is a broken vessel at the moment.

"How do you deal with it? It's not a question I can answer."

Hospital management says it is doing all it can to assist the family and it stands by its medical care delivered to all patients admitted with swine flu.

Spokeswoman Dr Shirley Bowen says the level of care was appropriate.

"We do not believe we have provided anything but excellent care to this woman," she said.

"We provided a high standard of care. We followed the obstetrician's advice completely.

"I do not believe that there was anything in terms of her care that should have been provided and did not provide to prevent this outcome."

The May family's lawyer has called for a coronial investigation.

Mr May's lawyer, John Hammond, says there needs to be a coronial inquiry.

"And there should be a full ministerial investigation as to why the health system has so dramatically failed and is it now in a permanent state of collapse," he said.


Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/05/2677526.htm

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: 'Unnoticed': Woman in coma gives birth to stillborn

Authorities to probe coma woman's stillborn birth

Western Australian Health Minister Kim Hames says an incident in which a woman with suspected swine flu gave birth to a stillborn baby without staff noticing will be thoroughly investigated.

Sharon May was 23 weeks pregnant and in an induced coma at Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, being treated for pneumonia and swine flu when she gave birth to the stillborn boy.

A nurse found the baby in her bed when checking on Mrs May.

In a statement to the ABC, Dr Hames says the death is tragic and that the case will be reviewed by two health committees.

Yesterday hospital management says it was doing all it could to assist the family and stood by its medical care delivered to all patients admitted with swine flu.

The family has requested a coronial inquiry.

Ms May's husband told a newspaper reporter that his wife's care was bungled from the start.

Danny May told The West Australian he wants someone to be held accountable for her treatment at Armadale Kelmscott Memorial Hospital, where she was first admitted, and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, where she gave birth without staff noticing.

Staff from another hospital reportedly told him his child had a good chance of survival if born prematurely.

The Western Australian Opposition has expressed sympathy for the family and medical staff involved in the incident.

Labor health spokesperson Roger Cook says he hopes the investigation will provide them with some answers.

"It's our hope that we will learn from the circumstances in which we find ourselves so we can avoid these sorts of situations in the future," he said.

"We know that the Health Department will undertake a thorough investigation of this issue and we want to assure the family that they have our thoughts and sympathies and that the best possible explanation to these circumstances can be found."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/06/2677717.htm

 

[Cairelle RN]

Re: 'Unnoticed': Woman in coma gives birth to stillborn

From a nursing perspective, I can see how this might've happened to a patient receiving excellent care. The 24 week uterus is not large enough for accurate external monitoring, and a fetus at that gestational age can certainly slip out easily enough. Cervical checks are also not usually appropriate as they can precipitate labor.

That being said, this is so tragic and I can only imagine how distraught the family must be right now, and angry too. I would be. Extra care needs to be taken with this population in regard to H1N1, and obviously more attention needs to be paid to the possibility of premature labor and delivery.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: 'Unnoticed': Woman in coma gives birth to stillborn

...this is so tragic and I can only imagine how distraught the family must be right now, and angry too. I would be.

I agree.

.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: 'Unnoticed': Woman in coma gives birth to stillborn

Baby tragedy for woman with swine flu
Updated: 12:17, Sunday September 6, 2009

WA health officials are investigating after a woman in hospital with swine flu gave birth to a stillborn baby without hospital staff noticing.

Sharon May was just under six months pregnant and in an induced coma in the intensive care unit of Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, media reports say.

She was being treated for pneumonia and swine flu.

It was reported she gave birth to a stillborn boy which was found later in her bed.

Her husband Danny May said the hospital should have been treating two patients his wife and their child.

'My wife is still alive and I'm grateful here for that,' he told Sky News.

'The question I'm asking is: there were two patients, where was the necessary things for Angus?'

The hospital says Ms May was given all appropriate treatment.

'It was appropriate and, additionally, you must recognise that swine flu is a serious illness in pregnant women and that we have had adverse outcomes of death,' Dr Shirley Bowen told Sky News.

The WA Health Minister Kim Hames has called the death tragic and says it will be investigated by two health committees, ABC Radio reports.

State opposition health spokesman Roger Cook has expressed his sympathy to the family and staff.

'There's outrage we will learn from the circumstances in which we find ourselves and that we can avert these situations in the future,' he told ABC radio.

Lawyers for the family have called for a full coroner's investigation, Sky News reports.


http://www.skynews.com.au/national/article.aspx?id=370007