A young Kiwi woman reveals she is still hurting from the "tragic" loss of her baby after her midwife failed to note her symptoms of pre-eclampsia.
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) Rose Wall released a report into the incident on Monday which found the woman's midwife breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights.
The woman, who was in her late teens, became pregnant in 2018 with her first child and enlisted the midwife as her lead maternity carer.
During the pregnancy, the woman developed swelling, headaches and elevated blood pressure in the final weeks of her pregnancy - symptoms of pre-eclampsia - but the midwife failed to request a pre-eclampsia blood test or perform a urine analysis at each visit.
The midwife also did not measure the baby's fundal height in centimetres at every antenatal visit and she encouraged the woman to count the fetal movements - which the HDC said was not consistent with current midwifery practice.
When the woman went into labour, the midwife assessed her condition over the phone but did not recommend an in-person assessment, although it was warranted.
The woman was rushed to hospital where her baby "tragically died", the HDC report said.
"My partner and I were looking forward to bringing our baby home," the woman said.
"We had prepped her room, bought everything she would ever need - furniture, clothing etc. Our drive to the hospital was exciting and we couldn't wait to share her with our big whānau.
"We are still impacted by the loss of our baby. Despite what happened, I sincerely hope that no other 'hapū māmā' including her whānau will ever have to experience what we have and that all the measures are taken to ensure the health and safety of mother, baby and whānau are upheld and respected in the future."
The midwife admitted she regretted some of her decisions.
"However, I will never know if other decisions were to make a difference in saving [the baby]. I do hope they find peace."
Deputy Commissioner Wall concluded the midwife failed to recognise the woman showed signs of impaired health and a referral to secondary care was warranted but not done.
"Had this occurred, the symptoms of pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, and reduced fetal movements may well have been detected sooner," she said.
Wall said it was also critical that the midwife did not maintain accurate antenatal records.
She recommended that the midwife write a written apology to the woman and her whānau, and undertake training on pre-eclampsia in pregnancy.
