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A Perth mother whose baby boy was stillborn at Joondalup Hospital claims she was left unattended for more than four hours before it was discovered the baby had no heartbeat.
Hand and foot prints and a 3D scan are all that parents Suzanne Al Hulow and Ali Al-Khafaji can keep from their son Amir for the first time.
“His room is still the same because I’m still hoping that somebody will give it back to me because … I still don’t believe it,” Al Hulow told 9News.
On March 18, Al Hulow went to the hospital for her 40-week scan and was told she was low on amniotic fluid.
She was induced four days later at 1:30 p.m., her request for a C-section was denied.
Three hours later, the baby’s heartbeat was normal.
Soon after, Al Hulow claimed her waters had broken, but the hospital said there was no evidence of that.
The mother claims she was left unattended for more than four hours before it was discovered the baby had no heartbeat.
Then it was more than 24 hours before she gave birth.
“I asked for a C-section so I could hold my baby or maybe there was hope that it was still, that they could revive him or something and they said, ‘No, we can’t do that,'” Al Hulow said.
“They say we can’t c-section you, we just have to wait for you to give birth naturally.”
In a statement, Ramsay Health Care said that following an investigation, it concluded that “the care provided to Ms Al Hulow and baby Amir was evidence-based and clinically appropriate”.
The timing of the observations was in accordance with established protocol, comparable to other hospitals providing maternity services, Ramsay Health Care said.
Amir’s parents also believe their Muslim faith was not recognized because the baby’s body was not available for burial the next day.
They say photos taken by hospital staff of the stillborn are also missing.
Ramsay Health says it is concerned the parents did not receive the images and understands Islamic custom, but Amir’s body should have been taken for an autopsy.
The parents’ experience follows the death of Sandipan Dhar, also in March, after his parents said they repeatedly asked their GPs and emergency room doctors for blood tests.
Joondalup Hospital staff also failed to diagnose a 10-year-old girl with a tiger snake bite.
Even after a second meeting with hospital authorities today, Amir’s parents say they feel they still don’t have answers.
“I thought I was going to be done today, to be honest, but I didn’t get it,” Al Hulow told 9News.
“I’m just reliving my whole day that I had to leave him at that hospital.”
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