News Forum - Mother blames Bangkok hospital for the death of her baby

[Thaiger]

The devastated mother of a stillborn baby blames the hospital near Bangkok where she gave birth for the death of her child. Remarkably, the hospital blames the mother for not trying hard enough. The family of the tragedy is demanding justice after it emerged there was no doctor in the delivery room as the pregnant woman, 25 year old Noi Aoonnoi, attempted to give birth. Instead, the doctor allegedly gave instructions to the nurses in theatre via a video call. The non-profit organization Saimai Survive highlighted the story on its Facebook page on Tuesday. The caption said… “A hospital in […]

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[Ramanathan.P]

Looks like it is a first baby, If that is the case, then for sure she has no experience in childbirth. However being without a doctor is a major fault. Don't blame the mother, She is in stress and pain. She is at the verge of her life. It is a life or death situation for her. Only she know what she is going through. The doctor has to take the full responsibility for this. 

[Fanta]

Q: What sort of hospital doesn’t have a doctor available for 3 & 1/2 hours in the middle of the day? A: a hospital in name only. 

[Cabra]

Everyone wants to work from home. Apparently doctors too.

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

15 minutes ago, Cabra said:

Everyone wants to work from home. Apparently doctors too.

Or from the golf course.

[HolyCowCm]

Shame a young not even newborn baby has to have a violent death like that before it's life really begins. And to think of the trauma to the momma.

[Noble_Design]

So sad for the baby that died and for the parents too. That hospital sucks a lot. 

[NorskTiger]

   From the story it seems like it started out as a low-risk delivery with the only thing of concern being her primiparous state, but there are no other details so we dn't know. 

It appears, from story,  the second stage of delivery (i. e. Labor) went on for three hours? That is quite a long time if that is indeed the fact, assuming she was fully dillated by that time (fully completed the first stage). At that time, it may not have been inappropriate with absence of physician, but this varies with practice hapits at different places. It certainly ise a common occurrence many places of the world. 

    What strikes me here is the mention of "inhalation of Amnionic fluid". Was this aspiration AFTER delivery and suctioning was unsuccessful, or was it Meconium aspiration before delivery? Sounds like it was mere aspiration AFTER delivery, but again is unclear.  

   The optics from the press article presented gives an impression of a woman going through a protracted labor, maybe getting exhausted, but no mention of distressed baby otherwise. The Vacuum-assisted suction typically would not go uncomplicated without a low position of the head and there is nothing to indicate this was not the case. Nurses doing the vaccuum is not unheard of either and we do not know if there was a midwife present, which sounds likely. Midwife may be just as able to do vaccuum extraction as a doctor. This is a skill dependent upon hands and of course numbers done. 

     Every delivery with poor outcome is a tragedy as it has become a very safe thing with modern facilities. Yet, it is not clear what was done wrong here. Errors may have occured, but this is why all documentation needs to be looked at. Pregnancy and delivery is such an extreme emotional turmoil and every poor outcome is a shocker to patient, family and the healthcare staff.  

      

[NorskTiger]

1 hour ago, Cabra said:

Everyone wants to work from home. Apparently doctors too.

More likely is that the doctor who was listed or assigned to this was in operating room or involved with another delivery.  Many obstetricians also work with gynecology and it is common to have surgeries scheduled at the same time as low-risk deliveries, which this may have been at the time she presented to labor&delivery. 

        I would be very surprised if the doctor in this situation is found to have been "working from home" or at the "golf course". 

[Guest1]

37 minutes ago, NorskTiger said:

I would be very surprised if the doctor in this situation is found to have been "working from home" or at the "golf course". 

But a Friday, plus "not allowing a c-section and at 3,30pm giving the order, to vaccum the baby out, sounds a bit like "pre-weekend preparation"

How 'bout this (yes, we don't know): The doctor was already home / out of hospital, for the weekend?

Also seems to be a small local public hospital, perhaps?  

And not naming it, is that the  "I sue you, if you tell the truth openly in internet" law?

[NorskTiger]

47 minutes ago, Guest1 said:

But a Friday, plus "not allowing a c-section and at 3,30pm giving the order, to vaccum the baby out, sounds a bit like "pre-weekend preparation"

How 'bout this (yes, we don't know): The doctor was already home / out of hospital, for the weekend?

Also seems to be a small local public hospital, perhaps?  

And not naming it, is that the  "I sue you, if you tell the truth openly in internet" law?

           Did it say doctor was out of hospital? Certainly if so, that makes it more befuddling. I just didn't see that.

   OTOH, he would (at 1530) have been informed about this for a longer time before that, since article says the labor had been going on for three hours. It would then be very irresponsible and seems odd to depart the hospital entirely after the preceeding events. 

  Yes, could be a smaller type of hospital, agree. 

   I think vaccuum may have been a better option in any case, IF the baby was already low station (low down in birth canal) and there was little evidence of fetal distress noted. It may also have gone quicker than setting up an OR for a section when not immediately needed. These can be tough decisions to make when weighing risks and the what-ifs. 

    I don't know how the environment with regards to obstetrics is in Thailand. I know it tends to be a high-litigation field in many countries. The minutiae of the legal policies can vary from region to region and definitely the risk-manageent policies (often varying from hospital to hospital). I think it takes a very special type of physician to willingly expose himself to this every day, because the expectations of a normal outcome is very high. Comparable, think about breast augmentation, another low-risk procedure, but still a field where things can go wrong. 

    In many situations a bad outcome drives the zeal for someone to be held responsible, even though everything may have been done correctly. On the contrary, many high-risk patient situations present with the understanding that things MAY 8very possibly) go wrong so the expectations are different. 

    The article, as written, appears to be clearly taking a side without presenting any clear overview of what actually happened. That is why complex things like this are better not commented upon by neither hospital nor lawyers that are suing doctors/hospitals.  

[HolyCowCm]

2 hours ago, Noble_Design said:

So sad for the baby that died and for the parents too. That hospital sucks a lot. 

This I 100% agree with you on. 

[HolyCowCm]

There is mention of the big guy in the article. Not the doctor. Google that and then you will know where. 

[Cabra]

1 hour ago, NorskTiger said:

More likely is that the doctor who was listed or assigned to this was in operating room or involved with another delivery.  Many obstetricians also work with gynecology and it is common to have surgeries scheduled at the same time as low-risk deliveries, which this may have been at the time she presented to labor&delivery. 

        I would be very surprised if the doctor in this situation is found to have been "working from home" or at the "golf course". 

The point is... the OB was not in the room during delivery, moreover, there were no doctors, not even a GYN, just nurses. Seems like malpractice to not have some type of medical doctor in the room during delivery. Certainly not what I would expect as a parent. 

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

5 hours ago, Thaiger said:

she wasn’t healthy and neither was her baby from the beginning.

If that's true, wouldn't the delivery be considered as high risk?

[HolyCowCm]

1 minute ago, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

If that's true, wouldn't the delivery be considered as high risk?

Hear-say for here-say and needs to be kept out of the equation until officially backed up. 

[Giltee]

4 hours ago, Fanta said:

Q: What sort of hospital doesn’t have a doctor available for 3 & 1/2 hours in the middle of the day? A: a hospital in name only. 

I took a family member to the hospital and there were no doctors because they were having lunch. Perhaps these ones in this case were having afternoon tea. There should always be doctors available. It’s called a revolving lunch break. I’ve seen it in government departments here where they shut and all go for lunch. 

[NorskTiger]

7 hours ago, Cabra said:

The point is... the OB was not in the room during delivery, moreover, there were no doctors, not even a GYN, just nurses. Seems like malpractice to not have some type of medical doctor in the room during delivery. Certainly not what I would expect as a parent. 

      This may not be unusual if it was a Nurse midwife present. However, I agree that it sounds a bit odd, taking into consideration that the labor had already been going on for so long. We do not know all the details, so I am only reserving judgment based upon what I read. The press has a tendency to sensationalize things they have little idea about. 

   Yes, it could still be faults committed. Therefore we will have to await a review of it all.