Bunbury Hospital caught up in another baby bungle after claims blood thinners linked to premature birth

The mother of a baby girl born 14 weeks premature — just over midway through a full-term pregnancy — blames blood thinners given to her at the error-plagued Bunbury Hospital for the early birth and other complications. Erica Hay was rushed to King Edward Memorial Hospital in October last year because she had heavy bleeding. Doctors immediately took her off the blood thinners and said continuing the medication could have killed her child. Little Hope was born four weeks later — and three months on she is still in a fight for life. The miracle baby — born nearly four months premature — has chronic lung disease, a collapsed lung and has had six blood transfusions. She still can’t breathe on her own. Her parents only get to cradle their fourth child outside of her incubator with tubes wired to hertiny body. As Hope struggles to survive at KEMH, her parents and her three siblings are cooped up in a single room at Ronald McDonald House in Perth. Hope should have entered the world on March 8, but was born on November 14 weighing just 670g — less than a standard loaf of bread. Ms Hay and husband Joshua French blame Bunbury Hospital for prescribing Ms Hay blood thinners as a “precaution” at a time when she was bleeding but had had no clots. They also say an infection Ms Hay complained about was not investigated until it was too late. “She was minuscule, about the same length as a can of Coke,” Mr French said. The claims Bunbury Hospital mismanaged the birth come after a healthy mother died during childbirth in July at the same public hospital and a baby died in December after his mother was overdosed by St John of God hospital staff at the same regional hospital precinct. Ms Hay said she visited the hospital many times early in her pregnancy and her claims something was wrong were not taken seriously. “I went about seven to 10 times to Bunbury Hospital because of how sick I was and they just seemed annoyed,” she said. “They didn’t listen and sent me home. They told me it could be a miscarriage. I asked to stay or be transferred to King Edward, but they were so blunt. I felt like I was being mistreated and the doctor was ignoring what I was saying.” Then in September, she claims, her waters had broken while she was 15 weeks pregnant, but Bunbury Hospital sent her home and said there was a chance she could have been having a miscarriage. Ms Hay said she was suffering from vomiting so extreme, she started to bleed. Two weeks later she had another big bleed and had chest pains. She returned to the only public hospital in the area and — after X-rays and tests — she was put on blood thinners, despite no clots being found. “I kept saying ‘I don’t know why I’m on blood thinners while I was bleeding’ and they told me it was a precaution,” she said. Ms Hay said the doctor told her he was administering the blood-thinning drug clexane because her mother had suffered a blood clot in her leg. But Ms Hay said she told the doctor it wasn’t hereditary and she was sure the drug was making her vaginal bleeding worse. A week later she had another big bleed and was rushed to KEMH by ambulance. She said hospital staff in Perth kept asking her where the clot was because she was on blood thinners. “I said I didn’t have any clots and they discontinued the medication immediately. It confirmed what I knew about the medication,” she said. During a routine check, four weeks after being admitted to KEMH, a nurse found an infection in Ms Hay’s uterus and amniotic fluid on a sanitary pad. The nurse confirmed what Ms Hay had always claimed, that her waters had broken and that caused the infection. Baby Hope was born hours later. Ms Hay feels it all could have been avoided if the Bunbury doctors had believed her about her waters breaking. “A nurse in Bunbury checked my pad and said she smelt the waters, she told her superior, but it was just swept under the rug,” she said. “I had an infection in my uterus because no one listened to me about my waters. And they kept me on blood thinners that I said were making me bleed more.” Mr French said he still had nightmares about losing his wife and baby. “When Hope was born, there was no crying and that’s burnt into my memory,” he said. “The Bunbury Hospital system made us feel like we were hypochondriacs and we felt like we weren’t wanted.” Mr French said there was “little to no care in Bunbury”. “They skimmed over everything quickly, they didn’t want to investigate,” he said. A WA Country Health Service spokeswoman would not go into detail about the case due to a “professional and legal obligation to protect the privacy of its patients”. “The organisation can confirm this was a complex case that has been managed... by specialists at Bunbury Regional Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital,” the spokeswoman said. “Maternity patients can be at risk of a variety of complications including blood clots (venous thromboembolism),” she said. “This is the leading cause of death of women during pregnancy. Venous thromboembolism can be fatal and the principal treatment for women at increased risk is ... medicine that prevents clots. “For each individual, the risk of blood clots is always balanced with the risk of bleeding before prescription of clot prevention medication.” Throughout the ordeal Ms Hay had to take ambulance trips to hospital and now has an $18,000 bill. “I don’t have private health cover, so I’ll be paying it off for the rest of my life,” she said.