The death of a newborn baby girl has left parents heartbroken, as they allege hospital missteps and malfunctioning equipment are to blame.
Meg Flaskett and James Flaskett, from Griffin, welcomed Thea Ann Flaskett into the world just after midnight on September 11.
She died just four hours later.
Ms Flaskett, 21, and her husband Mr Flaskett, 22, believe their little girl would still be with them in their Winnie-the-Pooh-themed nursery if it wasn’t for a series of unfortunate events leading up to her death.
Speaking to news.com.au, Ms Flaskett said her concerns in the final weeks of her pregnancy were not treated seriously enough — she claims her pleas for a C-section as per birth plan weren’t heeded, hospital equipment was not in working order and staff at Redcliffe Hospital kept them in the dark regarding the newborns state.
“I just didn’t feel super confident. I wasn’t reassured and I didn’t feel like I was being listened to,” the mother says.
“It was quite difficult to cope.”
“No one really told us anything to do with Thea’s status — they kind of just kept saying she was OK.”
Ms Flaskett went through a stressful birth, first admitted to hospital on the evening of Saturday, September 9, to be induced.
She alleges the gas mask meant to ease her pain during childbirth was broken, the hospital was understaffed and the care team wasn’t as experienced as she’d hoped and did not inform her the baby was in distress.
Ms Flaskett said when Thea was eventually delivered, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and she did not received the immediate help she required.
“She didn’t cry, she just grunted and was a pale-ish blue,” she said.
Resuscitation efforts were delayed by up to 15 minutes, Ms Flaskett claims, partly due to an alleged disagreement between the pediatric registrar and a midwife.
“We had her on my chest for about eight minutes, while they were going back and forth whether she needed help,” Thea’s mother said.
“At that point the midwife overruled the doctor and took her to the resuscitation trolley which is where she was met with the empty oxygen tank and a broken machine that wasn’t accurately displaying her heartrate.”
“They told James she was fine, she just needed help breathing, but they also called a resus code at the same time,” she recalled.
The newborn girl was attended to for about an hour before the decision was made to take her to Mater Hospital.
Thea did not make it to the tertiary hospital, as she wasn’t displaying signs of brain activity and her organs were shutting down.
She died in her father’s arms five minutes later.
While the wrapped cord may not always cause any problems, it can sometimes cause serious complications, including birth injuries due to a lack of oxygen.
The impact of oxygen deprivation varies, but it is estimated that after ten minutes brain damage will start to occur and the newborn will die if completely starved of oxygen for 25 minutes.
In Australia, up to one in three babies are born with the umbilical cord wrapped around their neck.
A spokesperson for Metro North Hospital and Health Service told news.com.au a clinical review has been launched into the newborn’s death. The coroner and Health Ombudsman are also undertaking separate investigations.
“Interim findings indicate there is no evidence of any equipment being faulty or of clinical staff being unable to operate equipment appropriately,” The Metro North Hospital and Health Service said.
“An oxygen tank was replaced during resuscitation on the baby girl, in line with standard clinical processes.”
The spokesperson also said Redcliffe Hospital was fully stocked with oxygen supplies and staff were appropriately trained in how to replace oxygen tanks.
Steven Miles, the Deputy Premier of Queensland said he is devastated for the parents, but has denied all allegations against the Queensland health sector made by the parents.
“It’s just devastating for people to experience that so early in their parenting lives,” Mr Miles said.
“I think all the responses are in place and the Health Minister is managing this. But our heart breaks for Meg and James and the experience they had.”
“When I heard of the story, I contacted the Health Minister and Metro North to make sure they were offering all the support that they should,” he said.
Redcliffe Hospital has offered an open disclosure meeting to the parents.
“The death of an infant is a tragedy for all involved,” acting executive director Louise O’Riordan said.
“Metro North Health is working with the family to ensure they have access to the support they need.”
The devastated parents are set to meet with health minister Shannon Fentiman on Tuesday.
“Im hoping she can help us implement immediate change as well as long-term change,” Ms Flaskett said.
“We only had four hours with our daughter and we remember every second of those four hours.”
“Were hoping she can help us make changes to save other mothers and babies experiencing what we’ve experienced.”