Woman declined hospital check weeks before tragic home birth

Bendigo hospital rang a pregnant mother a month before her due date asking her to come in for an appointment because she was deemed to be at high risk and was planning a home birth.

But the woman, a former midwife, said she thought it was “fearmongering” and a box ticking exercise for the hospital, so declined the 36-week appointment with an obstetrician.

Witness Dr Veronica Moule departs the Coroners Court of Victoria on Monday.Credit: AAP

Weeks later, following an unsuccessful home birth, the mother was rushed to Bendigo hospital with her unborn son who suffered a fatal brain injury.

On Monday, a coroner heard the expectant mother’s medical file indicated that an obstetrician had considered her upcoming birth as being high risk due to complications, including an earlier emergency caesarean section, years before.

But the mother – who once planned to build a space in her backyard for women to home birth in, but who cannot be named due to a court order – says she never knew she was high risk.

Coroner Dimitra Dubrow is now investigating the death to determine whether the baby boy’s life could’ve been saved at any point and to hopefully prevent similar deaths in the future.

Medical personnel who saw the mother during the months and days leading up to her labor, as well as two midwives who attended her home in August 2022 when her waters broke in the early hours, are expected to give evidence this week.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Anna Martin, said the deceased boy was “a cherished son”.

“He will always be deeply loved and be remembered by family and friends … and has a continued, lasting impact on their hearts and lives,” she said.

The Coroners Court of Victoria heard that the 35-year-old woman had experienced a distressing birth with her first son, including having to be transferred from Castlemaine hospital to Bendigo hospital for an emergency C-section and later suffering haemorrhaging after giving birth to a large baby.

In a statement read to the court by her lawyer, Andrea De Souza, the mother said she had a nursing background including being a registered midwife for four years.

She said she did not want to return to Bendigo Health and “backed ourselves” with a home birth, knowing they lived close to the hospital if something went wrong.

Provided with a GP referral for a home birth, the woman said she obtained the services of private midwife Elizabeth Murphy in mid-2022, who attended with another midwife when she went into labor at about 5am on August 19, 2022.

She said she used a birthing pool and shower and vaginal steaming before meconium came out while walking in her hallway. It was then she said Murphy told her that everything was OK and she would monitor the baby more “heavily”.

“I wondered if I was flying under the radar. I felt alone for a long time ... at points,” the woman wrote.

“I wish I had ... advocated for myself … and asked ‘what does more monitoring look like?’ See if we’re on the same page.

“I did not do this and it’s very hard to live with.”

The mother said her husband drove her to hospital at 8pm on the midwife’s instructions, but she feared going inside and then recalled feeling a lot of confusion.

She said the GP referral led her to believe she was a suitable candidate for a home birth, and that she contacted the hospital to obtain her records from her older son’s birth to better understand what had occurred.

After speaking with Murphy before she fell pregnant a second time, the mother said she discussed her suitability for a home birth again, believing her birth plan was safe “otherwise they would’ve said something”.

“I gave her my records, she did not raise any concerns with me,” the mother said.

When addressing the obstetrician’s call and the 36-week appointment she refused, the mother said she was told it was “to make sure the ducks are lined up”. Feeling there were no questions she needed answers, she said she politely declined.

“I felt like it was a box ticking exercise,” she said.

The mother noted as part of her research into home births she spoke with former colleagues, read statistics online, listened to podcasts and reviewed a study on home birth outcomes in Victoria authored following an earlier coronial inquest into the death of another baby.

Speaking through their family’s lawyer, the boy’s father told the inquest he recalled their son being transferred to the Royal Women’s Hospital soon after his birth, where he suffered a seizure before scans found he had suffered an unsurvivable brain injury, possibly caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain.

The newborn died six days later.

He said his wife did not undergo a 12-week scan or 36 week appointment because learning of any chromosomal-type issues and alike would not have prevented them from proceeding with the pregnancy.

Castlemaine doctor Veronica Moule oversaw the mother’s first pregnancy and saw her once for her second pregnancy, when the patient was about 12 weeks pregnant.

Moule told the coroner that during the in February 2022 appointment she learned the patient had contacted a home birth midwife at four weeks and, alongside her husband, was crowdfunding to build a space in her backyard for women to come and home birth in.

During that 47 minute appointment, Moule said she was aware the patient wanted to pursue a vaginal home birth and saw her as a “potential” candidate. Moule said it was not uncommon for mothers in that part of Victoria to choose home births after C-sections, but assumed her patient would meet with an obstetrician at 36-weeks to make a final assessment.

The coroner is investigating standards and guidelines of home births, the mother’s suitability for a home birth and the care she received.

The inquest continues.

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