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A JURY HAS delivered a verdict of medical misadventure at the inquest into the death of a baby stillborn at a Galway hospital in 2008.
Lorraine and Warren Reilly lost two babies at Portiuncula Hospital within two years. Baby Amber Reilly died in 2010. At an inquest into baby Asha’s death, the hospital apologised unreservedly for failures of care and for communications with the family following their loss.
Lorraine Reilly was 30 weeks pregnant when she went to Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway feeling dizzy and unwell. She was admitted shortly before 11pm on 7 March 2008.
Midwife Essie Dowd became concerned after noting reduced foetal movement and tension across Mrs Reilly’s abdomen. She called Dr Ali Hegazy, who examined Mrs Reilly and gave a working diagnosis of urinary tract infection.
“Dr Hegazy didn’t speak to me. I felt the midwife was not convinced everything was okay. I saw her shaking her head,” Mrs Reilly said.
Ms Dowd said she suspected a placental abruption, a serious condition where the placenta separates from the womb but said she felt reassured by Dr Hegazy’s examination.
A ‘snapshot’ CTG monitor of the baby’s heart rate was taken shortly after Mrs Reilly’s admission.
It was more than four hours later when staff attempted a second CTG that no heartbeat was found.
Barrister for the family Sara Antoniotti asked Dr Hegazy if Mrs Reilly had displayed ‘all the classic signs of placental abruption’ and he agreed she had. However, he said the patient had no risk factors for this condition and he felt at the time she was more likely to be suffering a urinary tract infection.
In hindsight, the doctor admitted he should have continued the CTG for longer.
The labour ward was ‘extremely busy’ and Mrs Reilly was given a bed on the maternity ward, the inquest before Coroner Richard Joyce heard.
When Ms Reilly, then aged 27, noticed she was bleeding, she went to the nurses station.
“I explained I was in a lot of pain and I was bleeding. She (a midwife) asked me to go back to bed. I was curled up in a ball the pain was so severe, I was crying,” Mrs Reilly said.
When she realised the bleeding was getting worse Mrs Reilly returned again to the nurses station.
“It took all my strength to get out of bed. No one had come to see me since. I’d lost a huge amount of blood. I was not able to stay standing,” she said.
She was taken into the Labour Ward but a CTG attempt at 3.28am failed to locate a foetal heartbeat.
Dr Hegazy examined her and told her the baby had died.
Mrs Reilly was rushed to theatre for an emergency Cesarean section and Baby Asha was stillborn at 4am.
“I told Warren I was so sorry and he told me as he burst into tears, it was not my fault.”
“The pain and heartbreak I felt was so immense. Those moments with our daughter were so precious.
“As a family we have grieved so much for Asha. Our daughter Angel still talks about her. The pain of losing her will never leave us,” Mrs Reilly said.
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Awful. Pro lifers have to stop saying our maternity care is the best in the world as clearly not.
@Con O’Driscoll: U think those nurses and doctors we paid fortune to educate should repay us as they ungrateful?
@Jay Lane: http://www.thejournal.ie/maternal-deaths-mortality-rate-ireland-pro-life-campaign-statistics-2921139-Aug2016/ looking at the attached, it learly ighlights ireland as one of the best.
@Jay Lane: I think it’s disgusting that you see this terribly tragic story as an opportunity to push your abortion agenda. And I say that as one who’s pro choice myself. But for feck’s sake, there’s a time and a place….
“Dr Hegazy didn’t speak to me” “She (a midwife) asked me to go back to bed”
After Monday night’s Prime Time expose on the consultants whats new.
My heart breaks for the couple …to lose a child i’d imagine is a horrendous ordeal. I gave birth to my 4 children in this hospital. Last 1 i was high risk. Dr hegazy delivered my last baby. Dr hegazy, whilst he might not have a fantastic bed side manner is actual a very good Dr. Unfortunate for this couple that mistakes were made. Also my 3rd delivery was 2008 and all midwifes were Irish. some of our best Drs are foreign..Nationality or skin colour makes no difference to a Dr capabilitys
@Lisa Malone: I would have to disagree with you Lisa, this Dr has caused so much harm to these people’s lives. I also have a friend who had this Dr and her experience was not great. The only positive for her was that her child survived.
Portiuncula needs to be razed to the ground. It’s a disaster area and it must be terrifying for anyone forced to go for hospital treatment there.
@DaisyChainsaw:
I know of a few horror stories there. One girl who had a baby asked for something to help with pain a day or two after the birth. She was abruptly told by a member of nursing staff “WELL WE DIDN’T GIVE YOU THE PAIN”. So cruel. She always felt it was because they judged her as she looked younger than her age (20).
Why is it always called misadventure ?The main reason females are encouraged to attend a obstetrician during pregnancy is to deceit problem births.No Dr appears to take responsibility
One of the stillborn happened in 2008 when we had the most amount of nursing staff and the vast vast amount of those nurses and staff were Irish in 2008 & this is still the case. The second case was 2010 when we still had mainly Irish staff and far more nurses and staff overall compared to today so when we had the most health staff and an Irish majority of staff that, our maternity healthcare was far from the best in the world when we had record numbers of Irish midwives,nurses and doctors.
@Jay Lane: You’re basing that one one stillborn child? You do realise that you come across as an individual whose self-esteem is through the floor with the type of comments you make. No friends?
Whatever about all the politics and bickering in the comments, it’s important to acknowledge the terrible grief and suffering of this couple and the immense fortitude and courage they show in working through this process so that some other poor soul can be spared the same suffering in future.
And here was I thinking the unborn baby was just a bunch of cells. Why an inquest?
@Eric De Red: agree the article refers to baby. Do it’s only a baby if you want it and a bunch of cells if you don’t.
@Eric De Red: agree the article refers to baby. So it’s only a baby if you want it and a bunch of cells if don’t.
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