A Perth mother whose baby boy was stillborn at Joondalup Hospital claims she was left unmonitored for more than four hours before it was discovered the infant had no heartbeat.
Hand and foot prints and a 3D-scan are all first time parents Suzan Al Hulow and Ali Al-Khfaji can hold onto of their son Amir.
“His room has still stayed exactly the same because I’m still hoping that someone will give him back to me, because … I still don’t believe it,” Al Hulow told 9News.
On March 18, Al Hulow attended the hospital for a 40-week scan and was told she had low amniotic fluid.
She was induced four days later at 1.30pm, her request for C-section knocked back.
Three hours later, the baby’s heart beat was normal.
Soon after, Al Hulow claims her waters broke but the hospital says there is no evidence of that.
The mother claims she went unmonitored for more than four hours before it was discovered the baby had no heartbeat.
It was then more than 24 hours before she gave birth.
“I asked for a caesarean, so I can get to hold my baby or maybe there’s hope that he’s still, that they can revive him or something and they said, ‘No, we can’t do that’,” Al Hulow said.
“They say we can’t do a caesarean for you we just have to wait until you give birth naturally.”
In a statement, Ramsay Health Care said after an investigation it concluded “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 with other hospitals providing maternity services, Ramsay Health Care said.
Amir’s parents also feel their Muslim faith was not acknowledged with the infant’s body not available for burial the next day.
They say photos taken by hospital staff of the stillborn are also missing.
Ramsay Health says it’s concerned the parents didn’t receive the images and understands the Islamic custom but Amir’s body had to be taken for a post mortem.
The parents’ experience follows the death of Sandipan Dhar also in March after his parents say they repeatedly asked their GPs and doctors in the ED 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 like they still have no answers.
“Today I thought I was going to get closure, to be honest, but I didn’t get that,” Al Hulow told 9News.
“It’s just reliving my whole day that I had to leave him at that hospital.”