Mother who lost baby over AWOL medics settles case

A WOMAN who lost her two-day-old son as a result of hospital failings has settled her case with the HSE.

Sandra Cullivan’s baby Stevie died at Mullingar Regional Hospital on April 28, 2015. The little boy was named after his father who died of a heart attack when Ms Cullivan was five months pregnant.

The infant suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain shortly before birth and died on April 30, 2015.

An inquest into his death returned a verdict of medical misadventure.

The inquest heard the infant was being treated as a ‘precious baby’ because of the recent loss of the baby’s father, but while Ms Cullivan was allocated a private room in the post-natal ward, she was left alone for 90 minutes before staff returned to find her in advanced labour.

Mullingar Regional Hospital apologised to Ms Cullivan for the ‘deficits in care’ identified as part of a review into the case and confirmed that all recommendations have been fully implemented.

Speaking after the conclusion of her medical negligence case, Ms Cullivan from Longwood, Co. Meath, called on women to demand answers from the HSE. She said the process of ‘dreadful communication’ with the HSE added to her distress following the loss of her baby.

‘This has been a long and hard road to get answers... No words can express my grief,’ Ms Cullivan said. ‘I know that they knew from the beginning it was due to negligence. They didn’t admit that until just before the inquest. They knew all along that they didn’t monitor me or Stevie. They were just hoping I’d get tired, that I’d get fed up and give up.’