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A lot of you may know Haileys story already but just to recap if you dont,10 hours after she was born it was discovered that she had a diaphragmatic hernia which meant that her intestines were where her left lung should have been & due to the intestines being there her heart was on the right side instead of the left & her left lung didnt develop as there was no room for it to inflate with the intestines being there.she had surgery on the second day of her life to repair the diaphragm & put everything back where it should havebeen.
The thing is over the past 2 months or so i have been researching her condition & it forms between week 13-20 of pregnancy.I had my first scan at 13 weeks & my big anomally scan at 20 weeks,now i doubt any of you will remember but at the time i posted a message on mumstown as i was really upset about the woman that did the 20 week scan as she really rushed it,seemed really uninterested & didnt talk us through anything.i have got my notes & Haileys from the hospital under the freedom of information act & in the scan she said everything was fine.I also got 4 more quick scans from 23-38 weeks when they check the size of the babys stomach as the pregnancy progressed,what i just cant get my head around is the fact that not one of them saw that her heart was on the wrong side,she had no left lung & her intestines were in her chest.
I know we are really lucky to have Hailey alive,I mean they told us in Temple Street that only one out of two survive with her condition,but how i feel about it is that the hospital where she was born should have picked it up.All the consultants,doctors & nurses that i have come across since have been shocked that it wasnt spotted antenatally.
My dilemma is do I take this further?,so that maybe the woman I got scanned by has to have her scans checked by someone else or isnt allowed scan unsupervised.I just feel its a matter of life & death & i dont feel you can have off days (if thats what she was having the day she scanned me) or be bad at your job where babies lives are at risk.
Sorry for the long post,its just been preying on my mind a lot & getting me down thinking of what the other outcome of our situation might have been & i dont want another family to have to suffer.
i think you should have it looked into if it is something that should have been picked up on the scan, shounds to me like you definatly have a case and maybe this will get the radiographer to be more conscientous and diligent in her work thus saving couples future heartache. glad all is well with your lo and congrats 😀
Hi Brenda,
There are two solicitors who work with Mumstown. They are both mums themselves and are really helpful and may be able to advise you.
They are contactable at: Tel: 01 8412966 or Email: info@mcgradysweeney.ie
It may be worth a call, just to see what they advise and will give you a better idea where you stand.
I would look into it, but not as a claim for compensation iykwim, but as you say for this not to happen to someone else. Its fine now that Hailey is alive and well when you found out this information, it would be a different story if God forbid she didnt survive and you read up on this.
Something isnt right, how it was missed is very very wrong!! If i remember you posted about having high fluid levels, this was the same as my ds’s pregnancy. I had a counsultant scan me for over an hour looking for holes in the stomach muscles and all ds2’s organs were checked and double checked for size… they did think my dates were wrong at he was nearly 6ibs at 31 week scan, so the measured the organs to both dates just to be sureI dont think you will have regrets if you look into it, but if you dont do something i think you will always look back thinking "why didnt i do something about it"
Good luck xxxTaylor,thats amazing the completely different lovel of treatment you received with such a thorough scan in comparison to me getting quick scans of less than a minute.i wonder would things have been different if i had gone private rather than public…..there are so many what ifs.
All i can say is thank god for the staff in the ICU in Temple Street they were amazing and thankfully with their excellent care they saved my little girls life.
I remember you posting that…
I feel somewhat the same about my scans I had 3 and they said everything was perfect.
It wasn"t perfect at all and as you know we lost her after 12 hours.
I am still waiting to go andspeak with someone about her pm results and will be questioning the scanning situation, as her condition came from 6-8 weeks.
Scans are far from 100% and like you this has prayed on my mind, so yes go for it Brenda and find out what you can and get some answers.
xxxxThanks for your message happymumblemum i just sent you a PM.
I have written to the head of paediatric surgery of the hospital where all of my antenatal care was.She came over to Temple Street a few days after Haileys surgery & said that they were having a meeting about Hailey that week so i have asked for the outcome of that meeting & the minutes of it.so time will tell if i get a response from her,i will give her a month & if i hear nothing i will write again…..I think i wont be able to put it to the back of my mind until i get some answers & then i can move forward.
I have to say the whole experience has put me off ever having a child again as i dont think i could physically or mentally be able to cope with what we went through with Hailey and i think i would doubt the hospital & scans etc….i think the stress would just be too much.I know the chances of us having a sick child again would probably be slim but i really dont think i could deal with even the chance of going through that nightmare again.
Taylor,thats amazing the completely different lovel of treatment you received with such a thorough scan in comparison to me getting quick scans of less than a minute.i wonder would things have been different if i had gone private rather than public…..there are so many whatifs.
All i can say is thank god for the staff in the ICU in Temple Street they were amazing and thankfully with their excellent care they saved my little girls life.
Hailey i was public and got fantastic treatment, it was the sexy doctor all nurses said looked like Richard Gere (cant think of his name) he looked after the at risk pregnacies, an inpatient so dont know if that made a difference… please please dont let this put you off having another child, you will always let this "horrible event" hang over you and you will most likely look back in years to come with regrets.
HMM i remember they did say they thought there was something wrong then the next scan they said it was okay…. you do really lose faith in the Irish hospital system the more stories you hear
If this is playing on your mind – I would definately ask questions. Ifthey had actually picked up on the condition – is there anything that could have been done before the baby was born? would it have helped you cope better if you had known in advance?
It is great to hear that baby Hailey is doing well. Don’t let this one bad experience put you off having more babies. There are so many different types of scans that can be done now. If you are not happy with one, get a second opinion.
Things would have definately beeen different if they had spotted her condition while i was pregnant,she would have been put on oxygen as soon as she was born & transferred straight away to Temple Street but instead she struggled to breath & vomitted a fewtimes & was only on one lung for 10 hours before they took her away to examine her,She could have easily died in this time.i was letting them know an hour after she was born that she was breathing funny,i was told "thats how babys breath" and when she vomitted i was told "there is no need to ring the buzzer if she vomits"…..basically they thought i was an over the top first time mum & didnt listen to me.
I think if they had spotted it in the scans it would have helped me come to terms with the situation before she was born instead of the shock that myself & my partner our families & friends all went through,it was horrific to have your baby in intensive care unit & not knowing if she would live or die.
I havent had any response from the hospital yet….hopefuly i wll get some answers soon as i hate dwelling on the situation but i really cant help it,i just want & need answers.
just to fill you in on the latest news the head of neonatal rang me from the hospital today & we chatted for a half an hour.She said that their statistics for picking up diaphragmatic hernias is 98%,so Hailey was in that 2% that they missed.
She advised me to go down the official route & send in a complaint to the hospital.i was suprised that she suggested this.am going to have a think about things over the weekend.I dont want to sue them I just want answers & for the staff to know that they missed my daughters life threatening problem & maybe they will look more carefully in future & no other parent will have to go through what we did.
She said if i write in an official complaint i will get a meeting with her department,the Master of the hospital & the head of the scanning department & they will go through all of mine & Haileys notes with me so I get the answers i need.She said there would be full disclosure & I should leave feeling my questions have been answered & that I wont be fobbed off.
Has anyone else every done this?…gone in to a meeting in hospital due to a complaint.if so,do you think it helped you?.
I am following this story with interest, well done for following it up.
Wow 98% thats very high..its unbelievable that you were in that 2%..
I can only imagine that you write notes going in and whilst in there.
Best of luck.
I had a meeting with the hospital about one of my births, i got a full low down of my notes and the ins and outs of what happened at the birth…. i was horrified at what really went on and and how much in danger my life was in at the time.
Its was very traumatic and i developed pnd after the birth, i only asked to see my notes after my GP said he felt it was post traumatic stress i had rather then pnd…. when they went through my notes it was such a weight off my mind, i really owe alot to the staff and Doctors in OLOL. I never realised how lucky i was until this day, it really helped me and changed my outlook on things
I think you should go and do it, pm me if you want. I always had questions and after years i got the answers, i do regret not getting my notes years earlier
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