Baby Deaths At Bacchus Marsh Hospital Uncovered; Mothers Recall Heartbreaking Experiences

Mothers have spoken about their heartbreaking experiences after a recent investigation uncovered that there are in fact 11 babies had died in 2013 and 2014 at Bacchus Marsh Hospital in Victoria -- bringing the total number to 18 deaths since 2003. The shocking revelation also uncovered that there is one obstetrician in the medical facility was sued at least a dozen times. Now, the mothers who have been involved are breaking their silence.

Jacinta is one of the mothers of the babies whose deaths have been discovered during the probe. It was in 2009 when pregnant Jacinta went to the hospital for a check-up after she noticed that her baby wasn't moving.

"I just knew straight away that something was not right," Jacinta recalled to 7.30. "I raised it with the doctor, I raised it with my midwives." But despite her repeated insistence, the hospital told her to go home and reassured that the baby was fine. Apparently, the facility failed to detect a condition that stopped her uterus from growing.

After two days, she came back to the hospital and discovered that her baby Ruby was dead. Then, she was asked to drive 56 kilometers away to deliver her dead child because Bacchus Marsh didn't have the capability to deliver the stillborn baby.

Another mother also recalled her disturbing experience. Caress Spiteri said she was discharged from the Bacchus Marsh just three days after an emergency caesarean section, despite her intense pain from two infections.

"Two days after that I had the child maternal nurse come home for our first visit," Ms. Spiteri recounted. "When she pushed my stomach up to see my wound, it actually exploded and all the pus shot out to the side of my stomach. She then told me to pack my son's bags and get myself immediately to the hospital."

During her two week check-up, Mrs. Caress was treated by Dr. Surinder Parhar, head of obstetrics at the Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital. "His thumb was actually in the wound, and he told me that I got the infection because I was fat," she alleged. She was later treated at the Royal Women's Hospital.

According to 7.30, aside from Dr. Parhar, there are three doctors involved in some of the avoidable baby deaths but they are still practicing at Bacchus Marsh. Hence, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) are conducting an investigation at the hospital.