“Is it going to take a mother or a baby to die out here or on the side of the road and then they might do something about it?”
That’s the statement made by mother-of-four and beef producer Ursula Keating whose seemingly ‘boring’ birth last month turned into an emergency as a lack of medical resources keeps the Chinchilla Hospital on bypass since December.
When Ursula’s husband, Steven, took his expectant wife to the Chinchilla Hospital on the night of March 13 he thought it would be much the same as her previous three births; quick, natural and safe.
But 24 hours later he was told to “prepare for the worst” as doctors performed an emergency ceasearan to save his unborn son.
While Ms Keating’s waters had only partly broken upon arrival at Chinchilla, the couple were seeking opinion on when they should begin travelling to the nearest birthing facility in Dalby after Ursula’s history of quick births.
A midwife, who had just finished her shift, was called back in while a doctor conducted an internal examination to check her dilation, allegedly against protocol.
Ms Keating was rushed to Dalby in an ambulance and despite any signs of labour had to be induced due to risk of infection. This later turned into an emergency caesarean when the baby’s heart rate began to drop.
“The whole time I was just standing there with my arms crossed, I couldn’t see into the room,” Mr Keating said.
“The baby (Andrew) was born about 2.45pm and Ursula didn’t come back down into the room until about 5.30pm.
“Then when she came back down into the room and they got her all set up...then she started convulsing and vomiting again and hit the emergency button again.
“Our concern is it all comes back to the conduct of the doctor in Chinchilla.”
Thankfully both Ms Keating and Andrew are now home recovering but the family are calling for an end to the poor resourcing conditions having made a complaint to the Darling Downs Health Service and written to both the Health Minister and Shadow Health Minister.
“A town like Chinchilla has come a long way in the last 10 years especially with the coal seam gas, it’s injected a lot of money into the town,” Mr Keating said.
“We have got a lot more facilities and yet we have got a crap hospital, it doesn’t make sense. We think the system has let us down.”
With Ms Keating now needing a longer recovery from what was expected to be a natural birth, it’s placed pressure on the couple’s business.
They are close to finalising a deal with Chinese businessmen which will see them export both chilled and live beef products from mid year.
“You sort of put your trust in the people that you think know what they are doing,” Ms Keating said.
“If I knew the actions of the doctor here may result in being induced I wouldn’t have done it. I wasn’t fully informed here as to what was happening.
“You plan for a natural birth that you might be out for a week or two but there is just so much going on at the moment.”
In 2016 to 2017, there were 173 births at the Dalby Hospital and 51 at the Chinchilla Hospital.
Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) Director of Nursing Rural, Western, Tracey Morgan said their top priority was providing the highest level of safe patient care.
She didn’t comment on when the Chinchilla Hospital would be taken off bypass status but said the DDHHS was presently examining options around recruitment of suitably qualified staff.
“To provide safe maternity services it is essential to have medical staff with obstetric and anaesthetic qualifications as well as a full complement of trained midwives,” she said.
“There can be challenges in maintaining the sustainability of an appropriately qualified workforce in rural and remote areas.”
The Queensland Country Life contacted Health Minister Steven Miles for comment but he was on holidays at the time.
Liberal National Party Leader Deb Frecklington said Queenslanders deserved a world-class health system no matter where they lived.
“It’s not okay that rural and regional Queenslanders are being treated like second-class citizens,” she said.
“It’s completely unacceptable that Minister Miles is so out of touch that he thinks it’s okay to have this hospital on bypass for months on end.
“People in country areas are already travelling long distances to reach their nearest birthing centre and this rushed birth could have ended in tragedy for this family.”