Shock treatment stole birth memories, says mother

A woman who says she lost her memory after receiving electric shock treatment at a Christchruch hospital wants the practice outlawed.

But the doctor who oversees the treatment in Canterbury said banning it would "condemn several people to death".

The woman, who asked to be called Carole, was given electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) for postnatal depression at Hillmorton Hospital.

Two years later, she said, she could not remember giving birth to her daughter and forgot what day it was and people's names.

Carole, 31, of Christchurch, did not have custody of the child because of her condition.

She was given 15 ECT treatments in two months shortly after the birth of her daughter in October 2000.

She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder before her daughter's birth, and was diagnosed with post-natal psychosis after being admitted to the mother and baby unit at Princess Margaret Hospital.

She was put on a variety of drugs for her condition.

When doctors told her she would benefit from a course of ECT she seized the opportunity, hoping it would make her better.



But the 15 treatments robbed her of precious memories, and she refused to continue it.

"They said I would get two weeks' memory loss. But I can't remember what it was like to have my wee girl. I have lost the birth experience and what it was like to be in labour.

"I can't remember how it feels to breast-feed. It is like she [my daughter] has popped out of nowhere."

Dr Richard Porter, who oversees ECT at Hillmorton, said it was suitable treatment for people with severe depression.

Some people were so sick that drugs did not work or they physically could not take them, he said.

"Some people find it [ECT] distasteful, but it is effective in about 80 per cent of cases. Without it I think several people would be condemned to death."

One of the side-effects was memory loss, but there was no evidence that it lasted, Dr Porter said.

Parliament's health select committee has asked the Government to review the safety and effectiveness of ECT after receiving a 3000-signature petition from the Patients Advocacy Group in Hamilton.

The petition said the treatment had left people with brain damage and memory loss.

ECT is administered under general anaesthetic and patients are given a muscle relaxant. An electric pulse applied to the temples induces a brain seizure.

Chairwoman Steve Chadwick said the select committee was concerned that no national data was kept on ECT use.

"Without this it is not possible to monitor ECT outcomes ... or make comparisons between district health boards about the rate of use of ECT," she said in a report to the Government.

Dr Porter would not disclose how many Hillmorton patients had been treated with ECT in the past year.

"I don't think it is appropriate. It will be misinterpreted."

- NZPA