A new grandmother says her teenage daughter has been left traumatised by wait times at a major Brisbane public hospital.
Bronwyn Mackay told NewsWire multiple women in labour, including her daughter, were left in and around the triage area of Mater Mothers’ Hospital on Monday.
The Brisbane woman claims her 17-year-old daughter, whose waters broke naturally, was forced to wait more than two hours on a couch at the hospital’s pregnancy assessment centre as contractions came every three minutes.
“She was mentally and emotionally tarnished at this point, embarrassed to cry and kept going back into the edge of the chair through every contraction,” Ms Mackay told NewsWire.
“She said ‘Mum, I can’t do this anymore, if you don’t take me somewhere else I’m walking out of here’.
“I made a risky decision to leave and bring her to Springfield Mater Private where she was assessed promptly and put straight into a bed.”
Nurses from South Brisbane rang the 17-year-old when the family were on their way to the private hospital 30km away, where the mother and her new baby are now doing well in the neonatal intensive care unit.
A Mater spokesperson said the wellbeing of every mother and baby was a priority.
“We understand how distressing it is for any family to experience a wait,” they said.
“All women who present to Mater Mothers are clinically assessed on arrival and prioritised according to their needs, with those requiring urgent care seen first.
“At times of high demand, some women who are clinically safe to do so, may experience a wait before being moved to a birthing suite. Patient safety is never compromised by this process.
“Out of respect for the patient’s privacy, it is inappropriate to provide any further details, and our priority remains the health and wellbeing of the patient.”
Presentations at Mater’s Pregnancy Assessment Centre are not all labouring women.
For example, those within the waiting room may be presenting for a scheduled appointment.
The health department backed Mater’s statement.
Ms Mackay said the sight of her daughter and other pregnant women in pain strewn throughout public areas of a hospital should not be the reality of public healthcare.
“Instead of being cared for in a birthing suite, she’s sitting in pain in a hallway waiting room alongside other women who are also in labour, because there is simply nowhere else for them to go,” she said in a post.
“Every staff member I’ve seen looks exhausted, stretched beyond their limits, and forced to apologise for a system they didn’t create. They are doing everything they can with the resources they have.
“This is about a healthcare system that has become so overwhelmed that women in one of the most important moments of their lives are left labouring in hallways.”
Some 20 per cent of Queensland babies are born at Mater’s Queensland hospitals each year.
The centres at Springfield, Brisbane and South Brisbane all receive public funding and also offer private services.
Government data shows the number of ‘beds and bed alternatives’ at Mater Mother’s Hospital in South Brisbane has fallen one per cent to 199 over the past year, with patient admissions down 20.7 per cent to 4718 from January to March this year.
“Behind every statistic about hospital overcrowding is a real person. A frightened young first-time mum. A partner feeling helpless. A grandmother watching her daughter suffer,” Ms Mackay said.
“A baby whose first moments begin amidst chaos instead of calm.
“We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. No woman should be wondering whether she’ll have a bed before she gives birth.”
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