The family of a baby girl with brain damage has sought legal advice ahead of an investigation into a Queensland maternity ward where two other babies were injured and a newborn died.
The four cases will be investigated from this month as part of a review into safety systems in the maternity unit at Rockhampton Hospital.
The baby girl didn’t breathe on her own for 45 minutes when she was delivered at the hospital in August last year.
It was her mother’s first pregnancy, which is understood to have been healthy and normal until the two last weeks when she had been in and out of hospital with high blood pressure and protein in her urine.
After the birth, the baby was flown to a Brisbane hospital and placed into intensive care where she was cooled for three days to try to reduce the risk of brain damage.
She then started having seizures and scans confirmed she had sustained brain damage.
Medical negligence lawyer Sarah Atkinson, of Maurice Blackburn, said the baby’s family had sought legal advice before the review was announced.
“The family felt strongly enough to seek legal advice and while we are still investigating the case and obtaining specialist reports on the baby’s medical condition, we can’t comment about what happened,” she said.
Mrs Atkinson said medical legal cases taken on by her legal firm often found the root cause was failed hospital processes and understaffing.
“At this stage this legal action should in no way be seen as a criticism of any hospital staff, we just want to get to the bottom of what happened and prevent it from happening again,” she said.
Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Len Richards has apologised to all the families whose babies are subject to the review.
“I will do everything I can to ensure it never happens again,” he said.
The four cases happened over a 12-month period at the hospital and Mr Richards said strict safety measures were put in place after the first three.
The independent review would include the circumstances all cases, he said.