The woman gave birth at the Calvary Public Hospital in October 2021. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains distressing content.
A first-time mother has launched a claim of medical negligence after she was allegedly injured while giving birth to her son at Calvary Public Hospital in northern Canberra.
The civil case she launched against Calvary Health Care ACT was revealed when an ACT Supreme Court decision was published this week.
The woman allegedly suffered injuries during her labour and the delivery of her son while at the hospital in October 2021, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said.
She said the injuries the woman claimed to have suffered were said to be due to the alleged negligence of Calvary Health Care when her labour accelerated quickly.
“It was evidently decided not to give her an episiotomy before a particular process was applied to extract the child in circumstances where the child’s heartbeat was becoming erratic,” the chief justice said.
“As the medical evidence suggests, because no episiotomy was performed, she suffered a considerably greater tear than might otherwise have been the case.
“She has ongoing symptoms and sequelae as a result of those events.”
An episiotomy is a surgical incision made to a woman’s perineum, which is the tissue between the vagina and anus, during a birth to assist with the delivery of the child.
Chief Justice McCallum said the matter was before her as the woman had to seek the court’s leave to begin the civil proceedings.
The woman served a personal injury claim notification form in November 2022, then began the proceedings in October 2024, even though certain legal processes had not yet been completed.
The chief justice noted there were three expert reports provided by the woman’s lawyers, Ken Cush & Associates, in support of her case.
“Those reports indicate that, as to both liability and causation, there is an arguable case,” she said.
She also said there did not appear to be any suggestion that it was the woman’s fault that the legal processes had not been completed between the time when she served notice of her claim and the time when she began the proceedings.
Chief Justice McCallum was satisfied it was appropriate to grant leave to begin the proceedings.
The matter is next in court on 25 August.
“Canberra Health Services (CHS) is aware of this matter and does not comment on matters before the court,” a CHS spokesperson said when approached for comment.
In a separate claim from earlier this year, the parents of a twin girl who died from injuries sustained during her birth were allowed to sue Calvary Health Care ACT.
This matter returns to the Supreme Court on 9 September.
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