Manitoba family sues rural health region; blames baby’s brain damage on ‘negligent’ delivery

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba family is suing the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority saying hospitals in the area didn’t have the proper equipment or capabilities during the mom’s labour, according to court documents.

In a statement of claim filed at the Manitoba Court of Queen’s bench, the family said their child has suffered severe and permanent injuries including “paralysis, motor impairment, brain damage, developmental delay and other bodily degradation as a result of the negligence of (the) Health Authority.” It also names a doctor and two nurses in the lawsuit.

“This is a catastrophic style of injury,” said lawyer Martin Pollock, who is representing the family.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is a catastrophic style of injury," said lawyer Martin Pollock, who is representing the family.

Pollock spoke with Global News via telephone Thursday afternoon.

“People need to know if there are deficiencies in certain hospitals,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "People need to know if there are deficiencies in certain hospitals," he said.

Global News also reached out to the Health Authority for a response.

RELATED: Where can you get ER access 24/7 in rural Manitoba?

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The woman was 34 weeks pregnant when she said she started to feel back pain and abdominal cramping. That was around 11 p.m. April 14, 2015.

She was driven from her home in Fairford First Nation, Man., to a hospital in Ashern, which is approximately 54 kilometres away. When she arrived around 2:30 a.m. she was told there was no doctor on duty and her pregnancy was high risk, according to the statement of claim.

An ambulance was then called to transport her to the hospital in Eriksdale, which is another 40 kilometres away.

When she began delivery, the suit alleges doctors and nurses did not have the proper equipment available and “the baby underwent a traumatic delivery.”

At 6:15 a.m. the baby was born face up with a distended abdomen and just six minutes later it was determined the child was “still born,” but was eventually resuscitated by a nurse.

RELATED: Hundreds plan to protest doctor shortage in Eriskdale, Manitoba

The lawsuit claims the hospital did not have a fetal monitoring machine, forceps, vacuum, baby warmer or resuscitation equipment.

“You’re offering hospital care, but what kind of care are you providing,” said Pollock. “Should I be driving an extra 100 – 150 kilometres to Winnipeg? What’s going to happen to that poor mother, that poor baby?”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You're offering hospital care, but what kind of care are you providing," said Pollock. "Should I be driving an extra 100 - 150 kilometres to Winnipeg? What's going to happen to that poor mother, that poor baby?"

The lawsuit claims at 7 am the baby’s body was “white/pink in colour. Owing to a baby warmer not on Eriksdale Hospital premises.  The family claims the baby warmer had to be sent from the hospital they were previously at, in Ashern, and did not arrive until 8 a.m.

They were eventually transported to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, another 146 kilometres away, around 11:20 a.m.

The baby girl has “spinal column injury, spinal cord injury, paralysis, motor impairment and brain damage” and “will continue to suffer the effects of her disabilities for the balance of her lifetime,” according to the statement.

Pollock said the doctor named in the lawsuit has been served.

There has been no statement of defence filed.