Hospital pays out substantial damages over baby's death
A COUPLE were yesterday awarded substantial damages in the High Court over hospital treatment during the birth of their first child who was born with brain damage and died four months later.
Sara and Robert Swaine said the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) gave them no support after discharging them with their baby Christopher.
The Swaines, from Carne Hill, Johnstown, Navan, Co Meath, sued the NMH for loss, damage and mental stress caused by the death of Christopher.
The NMH entered a full defence to the claim which Mr Justice John Quirke was told yesterday had been settled.
Details were not disclosed except that it was substantial and the full amount claimed.
In a statement read out in court by Mrs Swaine on the couple's behalf, she criticised the hospital for the way they were treated both during and after the birth.
She said during her labour, which was induced, she and her husband had waited so long for the arrival of their first child and what should have been a joyous occasion "soon turned into the most tragic of our lives."
She said that during her labour, she and her husband told a nurse they felt something was wrong and they were "basically ignored".
Christopher, who was born on July 21, 2002, with severe cerebral palsy, had to be resuscitated after birth and spent a month in intensive care where the parents had to learn to feed him through a tube.
They also had to learn how to suction him because he could not swallow.
Devices
"We did not know if our little boy could see or hear but we would like to think he could," Mrs Swaine said.
When Christopher was finally discharged, "we were left with no one to help or advise us, we were left to our own devices at a very difficult time.
"The NMH offered us no help, support or back-up."
Mrs Swaine said the only support they got, which they were very thankful for, was from the Jack and Jill Foundation which assisted them with both medical care and emotional support.
She added that the process of coping and dealing with their loss had been "prolonged" due to the fact that a State-run hospital had "dragged out" this case for five and a half years since their baby's death.
In the claim for damages, it was stated Mrs Swaine was admitted to the NMH, following previous admissions for monitoring during her pregnancy for hypertension.
She was overdue and was left on the ante-natal ward for 24 hours before she was given drugs to induce labour. The hospital administered doses of one drug in excess of appropriate guidelines while there was also a failure to establish the well-being of the baby before administering another drug, it was claimed.
There was also a failure to carry out proper electronic monitoring of the baby and there was no appropriate investigation of Mrs Swaine's complaints, it was claimed.
The child was born with severe physical and intellectual disabilities, including recurring respiratory problems and would have been, had he survived, unable to sit or walk independently.
On November 23, 2002, he died from breathing complications as a result of the injuries sustained by him during the course of his birth, it was claimed.
Mr Bruce Antoniotti, (with Michael Boylan solicitor of Augustus Cullen and Son) for the Swaines, said that the couple had since had a second child, Brandon, and Mrs Swaine was expecting a third.
The couple claimed for damages as a result of the loss of their child and for acute stress following the birth and death.
In approving the settlement, Mr Justice Quirke, after hearing Mrs Swaine's statement, expressed his sympathy with the couple and noted the "great help" they had received from the Jack and Jill Foundation.
- Tim Healy
