A newborn baby has died during childbirth at Northern Beaches Hospital over the weekend, sparking a review into the circumstances of the death.
The newborn died on Saturday following complications during birth, with a ruptured placenta believed to have contributed, the Daily Telegraph reported.
A spokesperson for Healthscope, which runs Northern Beaches hospital, said it “extends its condolences to the family for their loss”.
“Out of respect for patient and family confidentiality, we will not be discussing an individual patient’s condition or treatment. All patient incidents are investigated in line with NSW Health Policy,” the spokesperson said.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park expressed his “deepest condolences” to the parents and family, labelling the matter a “heartbreaking loss”.
“Healthscope have advised me that they are reviewing the circumstances of this case. NSW Health has asked the Chief Obstetrician to review the circumstances as well,” Minister Park said.
Northern Beaches Hospital Healthscope Chief Operating Officer Peter Thomas was asked about the matter during NSW budget estimates on Thursday, but said an early probe had not revealed any misconduct.
However, Mr Thomas confirmed the mother of the newborn had undergone an emergency C-section.
“There was an emergency caesarean section performed on the mother who was transferred to Northern Beaches Hospital,” he said.
“The preliminary risk assessment has been done and hasn’t highlighted any key deficiencies as far as I’m aware.”
It follows the death of two-year-old Joe Massa last year, after parents Elouise and Danny Massa took him to the emergency department of the same hospital on September 14 when he experienced vomiting the night prior.
The toddler subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest and died two days later.
A damning Serious Adverse Event Review Findings Report into the incident found staff at the hospital failed at multiple levels to adequately care for the child’s deteriorating condition.
Elouise told 2GB radio host Ben Fordham her “beautiful boy” was perfectly healthy the day before he was rushed to the hospital after becoming “white, floppy and unresponsive”.
Upon arrival, the emergency triage nurse checked Joe’s heart rate, which read 196 beats per minute, following which he was classified as a lower priority patient in a category three zone.
“He should have been in the red zone,” Elouise told Fordham.
The Red and Yellow Zone criteria in emergency rooms indicate patients who are deteriorating or at risk of doing so.
Elouise claimed the hospital staff “failed” to follow process and protocol for the red zone to care adequately for Joe’s “life-threatening” condition.
The mother further claimed hospital staff misdiagnosed the two-year-old with gastro, failed to give him a bed or an IV drip and denied pain medication when he was showing signs of “deteriorating”.
A Serious Adverse Event Review Findings Report found a failure to recognise early deterioration in Joe, which would have provided an opportunity to prevent the cardiac arrest.
“The SAER team accept that an earlier recognition of the deteriorating child may have provided an opportunity for early escalation and resuscitation with potential prevention of the cardiac arrest event,” the report stated.
