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The death of a newborn baby whose mother went home from Wellington Hospital just hours after the birth has again raised concerns over Capital and Coast District Health Board's maternity discharge policy.
The board came in for strong criticism last week after issuing a memo last week after offering new mothers a $100 supermarket voucher as an incentive to go home within six hours of giving birth.
The board made a U-turn after an outcry over the proposal, the Dominion Post reported.
The mother of a newborn girl who died on Friday was discharged five hours after the birth - her first.
The father, 28, said he and his wife, also 28, were not made to leave the hospital, but it had not been clear they could stay if they wanted to.
The baby was born after a 20-hour induced labour about 5am on Thursday.
The family left the hospital at 10.30am, and the baby died early on Friday. An autopsy is yet to take place.
The parents did not see a doctor or a nurse after the birth, but when they asked their midwife how long they should stay, she said they could go home immediately if they wanted.
The father said the couple did not blame the midwife or hospital staff, but said they were speaking out to prevent a similar death from happening.
The death could have been avoidable, he said, as medical staff may have picked up on problems the new parents did not detect.
Capital and Coast's clinical director of women's health services, John Tait, said postnatal beds were always available for women having their first baby and the decision for early discharge was made between the couple and the midwife.
The midwife said the couple knew they could stay longer, and there was "no way" she would have discharged the family if she thought the woman was not well enough to leave.
Stillbirth and Newborn Death Support coordinator Joan Curle, who has been supporting the couple, said she was shocked they had been allowed to leave so soon.
"She was a first-time mother, she was recovering from an episiotomy (a cut made to help childbirth), she hadn't slept in 30 hours, she did not have the support of extended family, the baby hadn't even learned how to latch on."
The Health and Disability Commission said it had not received a complaint and therefore would not be investigating.
Commissioner Ron Paterson said such a complaint would normally come from the family.
"Obviously a lot of situations get reported in the newspaper that get dealt with by the hospital or mid-wife and that's absolutely appropriate," Mr Paterson said.
He said the commission would be unlikely to launch an investigation into and individual case without a complaint being lodged.
"In situations where we see a systematic problem in services, then we do initiate an inquiry but it would be very uncommon, no matter how sad or serious it is," Mr Paterson said.
- NZPA / NZ HERALD STAFF
