‘Brain damaged after huge delay’
Girl, six, gets €8.8m for ‘inaction’ at birth
‘Seemed to take far too long’
ACTION to deliver a baby whose heart rate was falling was not taken by a hospital for five-and-a-half hours, the High Court has heard.
Martha Gallagher, now six, settled a case taken against the HSE through her mother for €8.8million damages yesterday.
The court heard that Martha suffered a brain injury after she was starved of oxygen in the womb, which has left her with a visual impairment, problems with dexterity and a mild learning disability.
Her mother, Siobhán Gallagher, from Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, told the court that ‘nobody seemed to take overall control until the very end’. Mrs Gallagher, whose husband Colm accompanied her to court, said the hospital was busy, staff seemed unfamiliar with the equipment and it felt ‘higgledypiggledy’ to her.
During an application to have the settlement approved, she told Judge Kevin Cross: ‘I was very nervous. The hospital seemed incredibly busy that day. There were a lot of people coming and going... I was really concerned that nothing was happening.’
Her counsel, Liam Reidy SC, told the court that Mrs Gallagher was admitted to Waterford Regional Hospital at 8am on June 8, 2011.
He said everything was progressing normally until around 1.45pm.
The baby’s head was not yet engaged in the pelvis when Syntocinon – a drug used to speed up labour – was infused, he said.
A trace of the baby’s heart rate showed that it began to slow, and counsel said a caesarean section should have been performed that afternoon. ‘But nothing was done until five-and-a-half hours later,’ he added.
He said a consultant reviewed the trace 27 minutes before her birth, ‘and realised what was happening’.
Martha was delivered with the use of suction at 9.16pm that evening.
Her mother told how the baby failed to cry at birth, and had to be resuscitated. ‘She didn’t cry for a very long time so they took her... That seemed to take far too long – it seemed like a lifetime,’ said Mrs Gallagher. ‘We asked to hold her, and we held her for a couple of seconds, and then they took her down to neonatal,’ she further recalled.
She said her daughter suffered a seizure a little later on. It was not for a few weeks that she began to suspect that Martha had suffered brain damage.
She said Martha did not roll over or crawl like other babies, and that she did not walk until she was nearly three.
However, she said Martha was now doing well at mainstream school, with the aid of a special-needs assistant, and a carer at home.
The court heard Martha could speak and communicate well, and that her mobility was good.
The most profound damage to her brain she had suffered was to the area which controls her eyesight, Mr Reidy said.
She could not see below the level of her nose, and had problems with vision to her right side, he said.
He told the court that the HSE denied liability for Martha’s injuries, but that the settlement had been reached following a day of mediation, involving her parents.
Mrs Gallagher confirmed she was happy with the lump sum offered, as she had not wished to return to court for periodic payments, which require ongoing medical tests and care assessments.
‘We place a huge amount of value on having a happy home, and not facing a huge amount of assessments,’ she said.
‘I really want our lives to move on, so we can focus on her care.’
Judge Cross said he had no hesitation in approving the settlement.
‘I think it represents a guarantee for Martha, insofar as money can do, going into the future,’ he said.
He noted the care given to Martha by her parents and family, and added: ‘I know she is a joy to you, and undoubtedly she will continue to be a joy to you. I wish you well.’