Major Qld hospitals still co-locating grieving mothers with newborns

A mother has been forced to beg for earplugs in a Brisbane hospital to drown out other babies as she recovered from the tragic loss of her newborn, before checking herself out against medical advice to escape. And she’s not the only such victim.

Women traumatised by losing a baby are being treated in wards with crying newborns at one of Queensland’s biggest maternity hospitals, despite the state government last year admitting the practice was a mistake and issuing a promise that it would stop.

A Sunday Mail investigation has uncovered the harrowing case of a mother who, after tragically losing her baby, was forced to beg for earplugs to drown out the noise of babies while receiving care in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital maternity ward.

She was left so distraught, she checked herself out of the hospital against medical advice.

The investigation into the cruel co-locating of newborns with women who have had stillbirths, terminations, miscarriages and gynaecological cancers has also revealed the practice occurs at more than one Queensland hospital.

Nurses and patients at the RBWH have confirmed that the mixing of inpatient gynaecology unit and maternity unit patients is still continuing.

This is despite an announcement by Health Minister Yvette D’Ath last November that it was only a temporary measure and a proposal to merge the two units permanently had been axed.

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union has repeatedly reported serious concerns about the co-location of those patients and told The Sunday Mail the practice still persisted.

The union has been told that the co-location of the two units had continued due to measures linked to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and is scheduled to end in coming months.

But The Sunday Mail understands that the Covid-19 ward measures ended months ago, and there had been no moves to stop the mixing of patients.

It is understood that a teenager with a gynaecological mass was recently treated at the RBWH in the vicinity of women who just had babies.

Erin Nicholson, of North Lakes in the Moreton Bay region, lost her baby girl Suri Rose at the RBWH after going into labour on Christmas Day last year.

Ms Nicholson found herself in the maternity ward with the sound of babies so deafening she begged for ear plugs, music or a TV — anything to drown out the baby noises.

Ms Nicholson’s distressing official patient notes, seen by The Sunday Mail, reveal from a “medical perspective” she should have stayed in hospital for another 24 hours due to her “risk of deterioration”.

But the notes go on to say she was “finding it difficult being on (a) post-natal ward”.

“That Christmas Day was a day of hell that led me on a path to PTSD anxiety, panic attacks,” said Ms Nicholson, who is mother to 18-month-old Noah.

Earlier that day Ms Nicholson said her family had gathered to celebrate but she wasn’t feeling well, so she drove with her partner to the nearest hospital – The Prince Charles in Chermside.

“My partner Adam came with me but because he wasn’t double vaccinated he wasn’t allowed in,” she said.

Erin Nicholson lost her baby Suri Rose at 23 weeks. Picture: Tara Croser

“I went off to ED by myself and was treated by a doctor who immediately barked at me ’we don’t do pregnancy here’.

“She told me I had an infection and I needed to make my own way to the RBWH.

“And she shouted after me ‘and tell them you will need antibiotics because I’m going to forget’.”

Ms Nicholson said she ordered an Uber to travel to the RBWH.

“I was sitting there with a complete stranger and it turns out I was in early labour and my waters had broken causing an infection,” she said.

“By the time I got into a room at the Royal I was in full-blown labour.

“I gave birth to my daughter, Suri, just after 2am on Boxing Day.

“As they cut the cord I began convulsing from the fever and they quickly handed her to Adam.

“The last thing I remember was hearing Adam say ‘hang on, is she meant to be moving?’

“And a midwife reply ‘Yes, she’s alive honey.’

“Then I was gone.”

Ms Nicholson said she came to a bit over an hour later.

“I asked for my daughter, and couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t grip my finger. She had passed away just a few minutes earlier,” she said.

The grieving mother was then sent to the maternity ward to recover where little Suri’s body was wheeled to her.

“The noise of babies crying was so overwhelming,” Ms Nicholson said.

“I was an IV drip with antibiotics and I threatened to rip it out.

“I had to leave.

Suri Rose’s coffin

“It was torture, and no woman should have to go through that.

“But also I don’t think it’s a good thing for babies who have passed to be wheeled through a maternity ward.”

Krista Fitzgerald’s baby boy Salvatore was stillborn at Logan Hospital in April.

Salvatore was born at 43 weeks and was showing no signs of problems before his heart stopped during labour.

“It was the most awful shock to have lost him as there was no indication before,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

“An autopsy found no reason for him passing away.

“To have that horrible ending that … no parents really expect was very difficult to process.”

Ms Fitzgerald said that if it wasn’t for the pleas of her sister, who is a midwife, she was going to be moved from her birthing suite to the maternity ward to recover instead of a separate room that was eventually found for her.

“That would have been excruciatingly traumatic for me,” she said.

“My family was baffled that this would even be an option.

“I absolutely don’t agree that bereaved parents should be placed into the maternity ward with new mothers, babies and families.

“It’s just absolutely heartbreaking having to go through the experience of having a stillborn never mind hearing other babies and mothers … in their journey – one that was ripped away from you. That really is not OK.

Krista Fitzgerald’s son Salvatore was stillborn at 43 weeks at Logan Hospital. Picture: Zak Simmonds

When asked if Ms D’Ath was aware of the ongoing co-location practice, a spokesman said: “The minister has been clear this is not an acceptable situation.

“Mitigating measures were established to physically separate the wards as part of temporary measures during the Covid response.

“The minister has been advised that a decision has been made that the gynaecology unit will now be relocated at its previous location following a refurbishment due to finish early in the new year.”

A Queensland Health spokesman said some women experiencing pregnancy loss require the specialist care of a midwife which could only be delivered in maternity wards.

“If admission to the maternity ward is clinically required, women experiencing pregnancy loss are treated in a single-patient room in an area that is located as far away as reasonably possible from women who have recently given birth,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman insisted women who do not want to be in the co-located maternity can be placed elsewhere.

He said the maternity and gynaecological wards were located on the same floor but as two discrete units and that decision was made following extensive consultation with staff, consumers and the QNMU, and had no relationship to cost reduction or medical staff convenience.

Erin Nicholson on Christmas Day 2021, just before she lost baby Suri Rose