Obstetrician admits his negligence killed baby girl

A consultant obstetrician has admitted negligence and mismanagement of a woman's labour at Sligo General Hospital. As a consequence a baby girl was brain damaged and died eight days later.

Mr Brendan Gill's admission of liability, through counsel, at the High Court yesterday was part of the settlement of an action taken by Mr Patrick Ruddy and his wife, Rita, of Behymore, Ballina, Co Mayo against Mr Gill and the North Western Health Board over the death of their daughter Marie on September 8th, 1995.

The action against the health board was struck out. It is understood the settlement against Mr Gill is substantial.

The case was to open yesterday but talks between the sides continued and the settlement was announced to Mr Justice Johnson at 3 p.m.

Mr Denis McCullough SC, with Mr Bruce Antoniotti SC, and Mr Paul Coffey, for the Ruddys, said the case was a medical negligence action.

Mr McCullough said there was a fatal injuries element to the matter which required a ruling of the court. There was also a claim for personal injuries due to the trauma suffered by the parents. He said the case had been settled with an admission of liability for negligence.

He said Mr Gill had admitted the labour was mismanaged and, in consequence, the baby had suffered brain damage as a result of which she died.

In the Ruddys' claim it was alleged the defendants had failed to provide acceptable care to Mrs Ruddy during labour and delivery; that the defendants had infused oxytocin (an artificial stimulant to stimulate uterine activity) and applied forcible digital dilation of the cervix when both were contraindicated; failed to monitor the foetal heart rate during labour; failed to notice that the baby was in a distressed and compromised condition during labour; failed to deliver the child by Caesarean section and applied forceps rotation when the defendants knew, or should have known, the child's head was too high to safely carry out such a manoeuvre and/or, in the alternative, caused or permitted traumatic injury to the child's brain in the process of forceps rotation and/or delivery.

It was further alleged that the defendants caused or permitted the trauma to exacerbate the effects of intrapartum asphyxia already occurring as a result of mismanagement of the labour.

It was also claimed the defendants caused or permitted Mrs Ruddy to have frequent and excessive uterine contractions resulting in serious foetal distress by inappropriate use of oxytocin; caused or permitted cardiac output to be reduced, thereby adding ischaemia to hypoxia by applying pressure on the malrotated head on the birth canal, resulting in vagal inhibition of the heart and subjecting the foetus in this depleted and distressed state to a high forceps rotation which caused shock and virtual cardiac arrest.

The defendants, it was claimed, caused the child to be born with irreversible brain damage, so she was incapable of survival without artificial ventilation.

It was also claimed that Mrs Ruddy had specificially asked not to have the oxytocin drip administered to her.

The allegations were denied in both defences.