NSW: More emergency room toilet miscarriages at hospital
11 Jan 2009 1:26 PM
SYDNEY, Jan 11 AAP - Two more miscarriages in toilets have happened at a public hospital in the NSW Hunter region, Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner says, with more women likely to come forward.
Maitland Hospital has been swept into a wave of controversy after three women have come forward and told of their experiences at the emergency department
The Sun-Herald revealed on Sunday that Lisa Watt, 39, was forced to miscarry in a toilet due to substandard care at the hospital on May 19 last year.
She spoke out after hearing Jodie Whiteside reveal that she had a similar experience on December 22.
A third woman has sent a letter of complaint to the hospital after she miscarried in a toilet on December 6.
Ms Skinner said she knew of another woman who had suffered the same outcome on two separate occasions.
"I believe there's another woman who actually had two miscarriages at Maitland Hospital emergency department," she told reporters in Sydney.
Ms Skinner expects more women to come forward, as others have, after hearing of similar incidents involving other patients.
"Is it a problem just at that hospital? Is this happening elsewhere and people are just not speaking out?"
She called on Health Minister John Della Bosca to audit all public hospitals to ensure they have sufficient early pregnancy services are sufficient.
"And to find out exactly how many women have miscarried in these kind of circumstances in our hospitals," Mrs Skinner said.
