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Care Opinion

Mother separated from newborn in NICU

Posted By Mother1234

"Mother separated from newborn in NICU"

About: King Edward Memorial Hospital / Maternity

(as the patient),

I had a very traumatic birth - my waters broke and I then laboured for 27 hours until I finally got a labour and delivery room and was put on a drip to move things along, then my baby’s heart rate dropped and I had to have a code blue emergency c-section.

A few hours after birth my baby started experiencing seizures which stopped them breathing and they were put into the NICU - they also have a very low heart rate and body temp with no known cause. My baby's had every test known to man and was fed through a tube and IV meaning I’ve been mostly separated from them since birth.

At the time of writing this story, it had only been a few days and I was being sent home due to hospital policy even though I’m in a lot of pain and I’m trying to establish a milk supply - I was told the hospital is run like a business - mother’s are treated like numbers, not people.

We have no diagnosis or answers to our baby's medical problems and now I’m expected to leave them here and travel back and forth to be with them and feed them for the next several days. I can barely walk or sit up straight and I nearly lost my baby very recently. How can this be done to a mother and newborn ethically or legally? 

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Responses

Response from George Eskander, A/Executive Director, Women and Newborn Health Service, North Metropolitan Health Service 2 months ago
George Eskander
A/Executive Director, Women and Newborn Health Service,
North Metropolitan Health Service

Submitted on 15/02/2024 at 12:29 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:51 PM

picture of George Eskander

Dear Mother1234,

I am very saddened to read about the traumatic birth you experienced and the challenges your baby has experienced since they were born, and I thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback to us. At the Women & Newborn Health Service, our aim is always to treat our patients with care and respect, and I sincerely regret that this was not your experience.

I am so sorry to hear about the ways in which the care you received added to your distress during such a challenging time for you and your family. At KEMH, we have a number of accommodation options available which we can access to minimise the separation between mothers and their newborns, including when a mum is discharged prior to their baby. We aim to ensure that these are allocated with consideration to the needs of families, and would like to review the circumstances of your discharge to review what happened and offer any further assistance as required. If you feel comfortable doing so, I encourage you to reach out to our Consumer Liaison Service by calling on 6458 1444 or emailing WNHSCLS@health.wa.gov.au and they would be happy to make arrangements for a review.

I hope we hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

George

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