King Edward Memorial Hospital baby death leaves parents Alana and Paul Starkie seeking answers
Alana Starkie with her baby Tommy, who suffered catastrophic brain damage and died when he was less than a month old. (Supplied: Alana Starkie)
In short:
Alana Starkie’s labour was induced at King Edward Memorial Hospital, but despite severe pain, she says her pleas for an emergency caesarean were rebuffed.
Her son Tommy, her fourth child, was born "limp" and died 23 days later.
What's next?
Police are now investigating Tommy's death as part of a coronial probe, and health authorities have apologised to the family, who are still in the dark about what happened.
"It's a pain that can't be described."
Alana Starkie is talking about the unfathomable loss of her newborn baby Tommy, who lived for just 23 days after his traumatic birth at WA's premier maternity hospital in August.
Nine weeks after his death, his grieving parents want to know why.
Alana and Paul Starkie's baby died when he was less than a month old. (Supplied: Alana Starkie)
Ms Starkie was almost 39 weeks' pregnant when she went to King Edward Memorial Hospital for a planned induction, deemed necessary because she was considered at high risk of complications.
Tommy was her fourth child, and her previous labours had been fast.
Sudden pain
Things started off well, but a few hours in, there was a sudden change.
"My pain went from manageable … to just completely unbearable," she told ABC Radio Perth.
Ms Starkie felt she needed an emergency caesarean delivery, and told staff.
Alana Starkie had been scheduled for a planned induction at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco. (ABC News: Briana Shepherd)
"I said, 'something's not right, you don't understand, I'm in so much pain, we need to cut this baby out'.
"And they told me that this was normal transition pain, and this was to be expected. And they continued with the labour."
Ms Starkie said the pain was so bad she was vomiting, and then her contractions stopped and she began bleeding.
Baby not breathing
When Tommy's delivery eventually began, his shoulders became stuck, triggering a medical emergency called shoulder dystocia that resulted in a doctor being called for the first time during the labour, Ms Starkie said.
The doctor managed to free the baby, but "he came out limp, and he was lifeless".
"It's still an image I find hard to deal with," Ms Starkie said.
Baby Tommy had to be resuscitated just after he was born. (Supplied: Alana Starkie)
"A limp baby who was not breathing, had no heart rate and he was taken over to the warming cradle and they put an oxygen mask on him and they started CPR."
It took two minutes before Tommy's heart began beating again, Ms Starkie said.
He lived for just 23 days.
No answers
Ms Starkie said she and her husband Paul were given very little information about what happened during his birth, despite attending a meeting with senior hospital staff.
They subsequently decided to lodge a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which they were told would take three months.
However, police who are now investigating Tommy's death as part of a coronial probe helped expedite her FOI bid, and the documents she received came as "a shock".
Ms Starkie said they showed Tommy's heart rate had been plummeting during the birth, as recorded on the CTG monitor, and that she had suffered a life-threatening uterine tear that caused significant internal bleeding.
Alana Starkie is desperate for answers about the death of her baby Tommy. (Supplied: Alana Starkie)
However, she said no maternal observations had been recorded by staff for the last three hours of labour, and staff had apparently failed to act on the alarming CTG readings.
"So they didn't know what was happening with me, [and] they didn't see what was happening with my baby," she said.
"[The medical staff] are there to monitor the mother and the baby, and they didn't do either of those things in our birth. They completely missed my condition. They completely missed my baby's struggle for his life."
And Ms Starkie said she could not fathom how staff did not tell her she had suffered a uterine rupture, which she only discovered after her GP ordered an MRI scan weeks later once she had returned to her home in Manjimup.
Hospital apology
In a statement, North Metropolitan Health Service chief executive Robert Toms apologised and said a "thorough investigation into the care provided" was being conducted.
""The hospital is in contact with the family and is committed to providing further support on an ongoing basis," the statement read.
"We apologise sincerely to Mrs Starkie for her and her family's distress and are deeply saddened by their loss."
King Edward Memorial Hospital is Perth's premier maternity hospital. (ABC News: Ashleigh Davis)
WA Premier Roger Cook said Tommy's death was tragic, and he hoped the inquiry would deliver answers for his family.
"Anyone that loses their life under care of our hospital system, that's a tragedy. But when it happens to a newborn child, I think that strikes at the core of everyone's sense of sadness," he said.
Call for hospital change
Ms Starkie said the family was considering legal action, but were more focused on telling their story in the hope it could help others.
She said she wanted to "push for changes so that it can't happen to another baby and another family, because I can't imagine another mother going through the pain that I've been through or another baby suffering like our baby did in his 23 days".
"So to us, the best thing that we can do is to fight for systems and culture to change so that this can't happen again," she said.
Ms Starkie said she and her family were still coming to terms with Tommy's death, and her children were "taking it pretty hard".
"It's been massive for them," she said.
Alana and Paul Starkie and their other children with baby Tommy. (Supplied: Alana Starkie)
"We have a little bassinet set up next to our bed with Tommy's ashes in it. And they kiss him every morning and say good morning. And they talk to him.
"It's a lot for them to process."
Ms Starkie said she and her husband were also suffering.
"It's something that we will never get over or move past,"she said.
"It's something we're going to have to live with, losing our beautiful baby boy who should be here with us.
"It's a pain that can't be described. And I think unless you've lost a child, you probably wouldn't know that pain."
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