A High Court judge has directed that a five-month-old baby girl receive life-saving open heart surgery in Dublin next week despite parental objections on religious grounds.
Mr Justice Henry Abbott today told surgeons at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, they could proceed with the transfusion of blood and blood products during an operation next Wednesday to save the life of the baby.
Ms Ann Power, counsel for the hospital, told the court the Jehovah's Witness mother of the baby, who cannot by court order be identified, had withdrawn her consent to further life-saving surgical intervention.
She said the baby, who is suffering from a hole in the heart, had been born at the Rotunda hospital in March last and transferred immediately to the Crumlin Hospital because of congenital heart disease which required urgent surgery.
Initially, the baby's mother had on March 16th signed a consent for the unqualified use of blood and blood products but following "support" from her Jehovah's Witness community had withdrawn that consent.
Ms Power said an urgent application had been brought before High Court President, Mr Joseph Finnegan, on March 18th and he had ordered the baby be made a ward of court and authorised the hospital to provide medical treatment as it determined appropriate.
As a result of the court's intervention the baby had undergone major heart surgery on March 19th.
She was critically ill and although having been given only a fifty-fifty chance of survival had recovered well.
Ms Power told the court the baby now required further necessary cardiac surgery to relieve a significant blockage to the outlet artery on the left side of her heart and this was scheduled for August 11th after which it was hoped she would make a full recovery.
She said the question of non-consent still remained and the hospital was asking the court to clarify that existing court orders relating to surgical intervention and the transfusion of blood and blood products continued and applied to all necessary future open heart operations.
Ms Power said there was a 5 to 8 per cent risk involved in the operation but this was considered medically a risk any parent would take on behalf of a critically ill child.
The infant's mother told the court she was now living alone in Ireland and her husband and the remainder of her family, none of whom had seen the baby, were living in England.
She wished to eventually join them with the baby and was concerned that the wardship of court would restrain her from doing so.
Mr Justice Abbott said he had been satisfied there was a pressing need and urgency to have new remedial surgery carried out and in case of any doubt it was necessary to have all existing court orders extended unambiguously so as to cover that treatment.
He said he would extend the scope of the orders to encompass such further treatment arising from and consequential to the August 11th operation to obviate the necessity of any further application to the court.
The court's direction would cover the administration of blood and blood products as necessary in the treatment of the infant.
Judge Abbott added that for the purpose of alleviating the concerns of the child's mother and family he would grant her liberty to apply to the court for the lifting of the court wardship for the purpose of bringing the child to England whenever the acute treatment period was finished in Ireland.