MOTHER SUES DALBY HOSPITAL OVER BABY DELIVERY DELAYS

DDHHS hit with $12m suit after baby delivery delays

THE mother of a five-year-old girl who was born with cerebral palsy is suing a hospital and health service for $12 million to ensure her girl will have the best care for life.

“We love her with all our hearts, she brings us happiness,” mother-of-three Sally Bracken, 31, said of her daughter Mackenzie, who was born at Dalby Hospital.

“Considering everything going on, Mackenzie is still a happy little girl and sometimes she can be a little bit cheeky.”

Like other little girls her age, Mackenzie loves The Wiggles, but unlike others, she cannot sit or stand and has to be carried or use her new wheelchair.

She cannot speak words, she has to be fed through a tube in her stomach, her parents do not know how much vision she has and she has almost daily seizures.

“She relies on me for everything,” said Mrs Bracken, who gave up her job as a fitness instructor and studies to be an exercise physiologist to look after Mackenzie full-time.

“We just want to be able to provide her with the best care and support she deserves.”

Sally and husband Leeroy Bracken, 33, who works as a diesel fitter, also have a son, 8, and daughter, 2.

“It’s been pretty tough, but I guess we put on a brave face and do the best we can,” Mrs Bracken said.

“It’s hard and it’s getting harder, as she gets older, to do things as a family.”

The Supreme Court claim filed on Mackenzie’s behalf alleges there were delays in Mackenzie’s delivery, after it was recognised that she had a low fetal heart rate.

Mackenzie suffered hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, then just after birth by caesarean section at 2.14pm on February 24, 2013, she had low blood sugar, the claim says.

An immediate caesarean section should have been arranged soon after a 10.20am review of a CTG trace showed the baby was in distress, it is alleged.

After her birth, when Mackenzie’s blood sugar level was low, medics should have taken urgent steps to increase her intravenous medication, it is alleged. “This is a really tragic situation that has had very significant consequences for Mackenzie and her family,” lawyer Sarah Atkinson of Maurice Blackburn said.

“Mackenzie is very severely disabled. Her parents will need to pay carers and for modified vehicles and wheelchairs.”

Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, which is yet to respond to the claim filed on Thursday, said it could not comment on the matter.