However, after a follow-up scan in Auckland, she says specialists reassured her the condition was not present and discharged her back to the South Island.<\/p>\n
Over the following weeks, she said she repeatedly presented to Dunedin and Christchurch hospitals with contractions, reduced fetal movement, and concerns about both babies\u2019 wellbeing. <\/p>\n
She alleges scans and follow-up monitoring were inconsistent, despite the pregnancy being classified as high-risk.<\/p>\n
At 33 weeks, she arrived at Christchurch Hospital after noticing reduced fetal movement. <\/p>\n
One of her twins had died, while the survivor suffered a severe brain injury linked to oxygen deprivation and could face lifelong disabilities, she said. <\/p>\n
The surviving twin was delivered by emergency caesarean after her heart rate dropped dangerously low.<\/p>\n
The mother and her partner were informed that the twins had TAPS, the condition originally suspected weeks earlier. <\/p>\n
She believes earlier intervention, more frequent scans, or earlier delivery could have prevented one twin\u2019s death and the other\u2019s injuries.<\/p>\n
Health New Zealand\u2019s South Island Regional Chief Medical Officer, David Gow, said the agency recognised the deep distress the incident had caused for the mother and her family. <\/p>\n
\u201cHealth New Zealand takes these concerns very seriously. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise the deep distress and grief this tragic outcome has caused for [the mother] and her wh\u0101nau. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to engaging directly with her and her wh\u0101nau to fully understand what has occurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will ensure we have a clear and accurate understanding of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that, across New Zealand, communication between teams and facilities was a key component of safe care, including for complex pregnancies requiring input across multiple services.<\/p>\n
\u201cClinical management for monochorionic twin pregnancies is guided by regular and closely timed surveillance, with decisions tailored to each individual clinical situation. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhere Twin Anaemia Polycythaemia Sequence is suspected, increased monitoring and specialist fetal medicine input is normal practice. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe frequency of scans and interventions depends on clinical findings and progression and is assessed on a case\u2011by\u2011case basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecisions regarding the timing of delivery, including whether preterm birth is indicated, are made based on a balance of risks to both babies and the mother, and involve specialist input and multidisciplinary discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mother said she believed the death of one girl and the injuries to the other were preventable. <\/p>\n
\u201c100% this could have been prevented. <\/p>\n
\u201cI could have had both my babies.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted that she intended to take further action and file a complaint with Health New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, after a follow-up scan in Auckland, she says specialists reassured her the condition was not present and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[65187,29944,95,1596,13978,634,43945,2241,3274,15258,2514,18557,101,3523,6178,111,43,139,69,5270,193,2848,1240,53883,223,1529,61,1847,1850,102],"class_list":["post-506658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alleges","tag-alleging","tag-and","tag-brain","tag-daughters","tag-death","tag-failures","tag-hospital","tag-hospitals","tag-injury","tag-island","tag-led","tag-left","tag-medical","tag-mother","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-one","tag-other","tag-severe","tag-south","tag-surviving","tag-the","tag-three","tag-to","tag-twin","tag-twins","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}