'This is the baby you should be resuscitating': Brisbane hospital staff confuse premature baby with dead twin
A premature baby was mistaken for her dead sister in a horror mix-up at a private Queensland hospital, costing the infant four crucial minutes, a coroner has found.
In the womb, Brisbane Mater Hospital staff members labelled Elsie Robertson as “twin two” while her stillborn twin was identified as “twin one," Courier Mail reports.
Elsie was born showing no signs of life, handed to nurses by an obstetrician and moved to an open cot labelled as “twin one” - the label given to her stillborn twin.
In the mix-up, medical staff began resuscitating the stillborn baby for four minutes before the error was noticed.
A midwife realised the horrifying mix-up and told the nurse: “I’m sorry but this is the baby you should be resuscitating.”
Elsie only survived for only 10 hours.
Elsie reportedly responded quickly but her life support was switched off. She died on October 8, 2012 with “poor prognosis” and serious brain damage.
Deputy State Coroner John Lock claims the doctor actually meant it was the first twin he had delivered, a bungle up that cost the infant four crucial minutes.
Mr Lock claims that although there were delays because of the confusion, had doctors started the resuscitation earlier it would not have saved Elsie's life.
The coroner claims Elsie died from E.coli sepsis due to a twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
Mr Lock also said there was an “unreasonable delay” in giving antibiotics to the baby.
The investigation findings were released earlier this year as a matter of public interest but there will be no inquest into the infant's death.
Yahoo7 has contacted Mater Hospital for comment.
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