Mother felt 'completely abandoned' during traumatic birth at NSW hospital

NSW Health apologises to mother who says failures at Queanbeyan Hospital almost cost her baby's life In short: A woman whose daughter was born in critical distress after a traumatic labour is demanding answers from the Queanbeyan Hospital. NSW Health says four general practice obstetricians recently walked off the job, but locum doctors have been brought in to replace them. Authorities have been called in to make recommendations to improve the maternity service. Warning: this story discusses birth trauma. A mother who experienced a traumatic birth at a regional New South Wales hospital said her daughter could have died due to clinical failures during her labour. The Southern NSW Local Health District has apologised to the woman for her "distressing" experience at Queanbeyan Hospital. The hospital's maternity unit has been grappling with major turmoil in recent months. NSW Health said four general practice obstetricians had "withdrawn their service" amid clinical and cultural concerns, including tensions with midwives. Mother demands answers A woman, who would like to be known as Kate, said she felt "completely abandoned" for hours after arriving in labour at Queanbeyan Hospital in May. Despite reporting contractions five minutes apart and requesting an epidural as early as possible, the mother said she was not assessed by her midwife or offered any pain relief. "She never checked how dilated I was, she didn't ask about my contractions, she wasn't asking about the pain, she wasn't monitoring the baby's heart rate at all,"Kate said. She said she became increasingly distressed as she progressed rapidly through labour "completely alone". "The only time I was eventually given gas was when I became so overwhelmed by the pain that I rang the bell and begged for it," Kate said. By the time the epidural was arranged, the mother said it was too late to be administered. "The midwives were on the phone trying to call other doctors for backup and everyone's rushing around," she said. "They couldn't organise a C-section because the [baby's] heart rate was too low, so by the time they got theatre ready, she would have been brain dead." Her daughter was delivered "blue and floppy" with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. She said her baby was in critical distress and required immediate resuscitation. Kate is demanding answers from Queanbeyan Hospital about how her labour was allowed to progress as it did. "How did a woman arrive at hospital in labour, spend hours in a birth suite, repeatedly ask for pain relief, and yet nobody knew how her labour was progressing and nobody recognised that her baby was in serious distress until it became a critical emergency?" she said. "Because from where my husband and I were sitting, it felt as though the emergency occurred because nobody was paying attention." NSW Health apologises In a statement, the Southern NSW Local Health District said representatives had spoken to the mother about her ordeal and concerns. "Her family's experience is not in keeping with the district's and the community's expectations of the care provided at the Queanbeyan Maternity Service," the statement said. "Since her time in the hospital, the district has established a task force to implement improvements that will support clinical safety and improve workforce culture to meet the needs of the community." Commission called in Kate's case is part of a string of recent clinical, cultural and workplace issues at the Queanbeyan maternity service. NSW Health said locum doctors had been brought in to replace four general practice obstetricians who recently advised they were "temporarily unable to provide services at Queanbeyan Hospital". It has coincided with the rollout of the district's Midwifery Group Practice program, designed to provide continuity of care for expectant mothers. "During this time, we can reassure women and their families that Queanbeyan Hospital is staffed by experienced and caring maternity clinicians," the statement from the Southern NSW Local Health District said. The Clinical Excellence Commission — the lead agency for NSW patient safety — and the Ministry of Health have also been called in to make recommendations to improve the maternity service. The district has also appointed a temporary Obstetric Health Head of Department, who started work this week. "The district acknowledges there are always areas to improve the delivery of care and has identified opportunities where our maternity services can be strengthened," the statement said. But Kate said despite its previously excellent reputation, she would "absolutely not" recommend the maternity service to other expectant mothers. "It was really scary," she said. "[My daughter is] doing really well, thank God … but I just think I would hate for this to happen to someone else." In August, the federal government established a Senate committee on women's health, which includes examining pregnancy and postpartum health care. Submissions close on October 9.