http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx4yAFZi8UA

[The Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise and a trailer for tomorrow’s Prime Time]

Via RTE:

In a special Prime Time programme tomorrow, Thursday, the RTÉ Investigations Unit reveals the details of its investigation into the deaths of a number of babies over a six year period at the Maternity Unit in the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise.

These babies were alive at the onset of labour but died either during the labour or within seven days of birth. In the cases examined by RTÉ there were no congenital abnormalities, meaning the babies did not have a physical condition where their ability to survive was diminished resulting in death. Therefore other factors led to their

A report into the death of one baby in 2008 found there were a number of failings in the care provided by the hospital to both the mother and baby. These included a failure to recognise when the baby was in distress during labour and the inappropriate use of a drug used to increase the rate of contractions. A number of recommendations were made in the report to improve patient safety.

However the RTÉ Investigations Unit has learned that other babies subsequently died in very similar circumstances and that the review of these cases also found failings in the care provided. The care failures in these cases showed strong similarities to the failures in the earlier case. The programme finds the hospital and HSE had failed to implement the previous recommendations in full, which may have saved these babies lives.

Jaysus.

Fatal Failures – Prime Time, at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ News Now..

Thanks Laura Fitzgerald