The death of Melbourne mother Caroline Lovell during a homebirth in 2012 was preventable, a coroner has found, recommending the midwife in charge be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Ms Lovell died at the Austin Hospital in January 2012 after giving birth to her second child at home in Watsonia in a birthing pool.
A coroner found the 36-year-old suffered a post-partum haemorrhage but it was not picked up by the midwife in charge, Gaye Demanuele.
He found Ms Demanuele failed to monitor the new mother’s blood pressure or properly examine her.
She also failed to notice the changing colour of the bath, indicating major blood loss, or call an ambulance urgently even after Ms Lovell begged her to.
Ms Lovell’s mother Jade Markiewiczs said she hoped Ms Demanuele was prosecuted.
“Caroline was a beautiful person and a loving mother who thought that she was in safe hands giving birth at home,” she said.
“She never thought that when she begged to be taken to hospital her cry for help would be rejected.
“My daughter’s death was entirely preventable.”
Ms Markiewiczs said her daughter would be alive today if an ambulance had been called.
“It’s a tragedy that two little girls, my granddaughters are left without their mother,” she said.
“Today is the first step towards justice being done.”
The coroner also recommended new guidelines for midwives practising home births.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
This makes me f*cking furious. It's midwives like this that give homebirth a bad name. The care received in this case is absolutely negligent. I hope the midwife faces criminal charges.
The midwife has been reported to the DPP.
Good.
I wonder are midwives required to adhere to the same standards of professional negligence or carry similar professional indemnity as obstretricians? If not, I wonder what further action would be taken against the midwife - as it might be difficult to sue for negligence if there is no professional standard.
Yes, midwives are governed by a professional body that adheres them to the same standards as doctors.
I should think that the midwife could be up on manslaughter charges if found to have contributed to the woman's death
Totally! Even in a hospital environment where doctors are present a nurse has about 50% of the legal responsibility. At least I think I heard that.
Thank you for clarifying - so this story is about professional negligence - even if this had happened in a safe hospital environment her actions would have caused the same outcome.