PARENTS SPEAK OUT:THE FAMILY of a 13-week-old baby boy who were wrongly told by their hospital that he had died while in the womb have called for an independent investigation into the HSE's handling of their case.
Michael and Melissa Redmond, from Donabate in north Co Dublin, said yesterday they were “disgusted” by the HSE’s reaction to the misdiagnosis, which they claim was caused by the use of outdated and unsuitable equipment at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
"We were disgusted to find out that the HSE did not replace the faulty equipment until January this year following the misdiagnosis. We would absolutely call for an independent investigation into the handling of this," Michael Redmond told The Irish Times.
Mr Redmond said they had not sought the publication of an internal hospital report into the case but rather wanted to see all the recommendations outlined within it to be fully implemented.
“We just want to make people aware of this possibility,” said Mr Redmond, who added that his family are delighted that their son was born safe and well. Asked if he felt the HSE needed to be completely reformed, Mr Redmond said that was a matter for politicians to decide.
Ms Redmond thanked her maternal instincts for leading her to query the results of the erroneous hospital scan. She was given an abortive drug following the scan and an appointment was set for her to have the foetus removed. She said that, having experienced miscarriages in the past, she was quite confident her pregnancy was going to plan as she was experiencing morning sickness and decided to seek a second opinion from a local GP.
The second scan clearly showed the baby was alive and Ms Redmond cancelled the procedure the Louth hospital had arranged for the next day during which the foetus would have been removed.
Ms Redmond, whose son Michael was born in March, said she visited Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital on July 22nd last when she was “showing all the symptoms” of pregnancy, but was told her unborn baby had died.
She said she was told in the hospital that "this pregnancy wasnt going to progress". She told RTÉ Radio's Today with Pat Kennyshow: "I was stunned. It just didn't feel I had lost the baby. I was heartbroken. I had been in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital twice previously with miscarriages, so I would expect that it was on my file but I don't know if the actual person who did the scan had all of those notes on the day."
Ms Redmond said the hospital had arranged an appointment to have the foetus removed two days later and given her tablets to take on the morning of the procedure so her contractions would begin.
She said she told her friends and family the baby had died but that when morning sickness continued, doubt crept into her mind and she decided to seek a second opinion and scan from a local GP.
“As soon as she put the scanner on my stomach I could see a heartbeat. Straight away I could see a heartbeat . . . It was joyous,” she said. Mr Redmond said “there were a lot of mixed emotions going on” following the scan and that he phoned Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital to cancel the procedure scheduled for the following day.
He said the hospital staff were in shock when they heard of the misdiagnosis and that a scan, using a different machine, was arranged. “In such a place as the early assessment unit you would expect the best of equipment . . . the most sensitive equipment . . . and it wasn’t. It was an old machine. It gave grainy pictures and obviously it was faulty.” The family attended the hospital for the rest of the pregnancy and said the treatment was superb.