Sunday 11 January 2009
MORE MOTHERS REVEAL MAITLAND ED MISCARRIAGES PROMISES BROKEN
Three more women have come forward revealing miscarriages in the Emergency Department at Maitland Hospital are not a rare occurrence, according to Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner.
“Two of these women contacted me because they were horrified that yet another woman had gone through a repeat of their own traumatic experience despite promises it would never happen again.
“When Jodie Whiteside spoke out about her horror at giving birth to a 14 week baby in the hospital toilet, Lisa Watt couldn’t believe her ears.
“She’d had a miscarriage in the Emergency Department toilet on May 19th 2008 and after writing letters she was told procedures would be reviewed and any pregnant woman who came in would be treated straight away.
“But this wasn’t what happened to another Hunter mum who miscarried in the Emergency Department on December 6th 2008.
“She arrived at noon on the Saturday, waited hours in the department, sent home after visiting twice that day, and it was only on the Monday that she was eventually helped by a sympathetic doctor.
“She wrote to the hospital and the Director of Emergency Services Lower Hunter Sector replied explaining that ‘funding issues’ meant an early pregnancy assessment service ‘only operates three morning a week.’
“These miscarriages show that the State Labor Government offers hollow promises to pregnant women experiencing the trauma of miscarriage without support in a hospital emergency department.
“The treatment of these women is an utter, unmitigated disgrace. It is simply not acceptable for bureaucrats to wipe their hands of these traumatic experiences by saying thousands of pregnancies end in miscarriage.
“I will endeavour to find out whether these problems are unique to Maitland Hospital or whether pregnant mums are ignored in other emergency departments.
“Health Minister John Della Bosca must come clean with this information and he must immediately audit all hospitals to ensure they have sufficient resources to operate early pregnancy assessment services – including staff and beds.
“He must also foster a change of culture so that people in caring medical professions can provide the empathetic and sensitive support patients need,” Mrs Skinner said.