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THE COUPLE AT the centre of case involving an abortion at the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street are “mentally and physically devastated”, according to the solicitor representing them.
An external review is due to be carried out into the circumstances around the abortion, which concerns a couple who earlier this year were told their baby had a fatal foetal abnormality.
It is understood that an abortion was then carried out at over 15 weeks.
It was thought the baby had Trisomy18, also known as Edwards Syndrome, but a series of genetic tests later found that that was not the case.
The parents sought an external investigation and the hospital has now decided to set up an external review, RTÉ reported yesterday.
“This couple are utterly, utterly mentally and physically devastated,” Haughey said.
Their loss and their sense of grief is interminable. What has happened to them is incomparable. What they want now is honest answers.
Speaking later to Virgin Media News, Haughey said that the couple were already “in a deep state of grief and undergoing a process grieving” when they found out about the misdiagnosis.
“They did not go into this clinic or into this hospital with a view to having a termination,” she said.
“They went into this hospital to find out how well their pregnancy was going. Were mom’s dates right, that kind of thing.
But this led them down a path when suddenly they’re talking about termination. They never brought up the word termination.
Test
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In a statement yesterday, Holles Street said they couldn’t comment on individual cases but that a review is to be carried out.
“We can confirm that we have asked the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to conduct an independent review of a recent case at the hospital,” they said.
However, in a statement issued in the wake of the initial reports of the case a spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said:
“We can confirm the RCOG has not yet received a formal approach to undertake this review. Should an approach be forthcoming, this will be considered in the usual way.”
It’s understood the National Maternity Hospital is now attempting to clarify the situation with the UK-based body.
Speaking on Today with Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday, the Master of the Rotunda maternity hospital Fergal Malone said he could not comment on the individual case but explained that early screening tests are carried out by a blood test and an ultrasound.
If there is a query about these initial tests, then a diagnosis is sought through two different tests: a Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test or amniocentesis.
The CVS test uses placental cells while amniocentesis is carried out directly on the foetus.
Prof Malone explained that there can occasionally be different genetic readings between the placenta and the foetus.
The CVS test should always be interpreted in conjunction with an ultrasound, he said.
“When the CVS test is taken, two different samples are sent. One for a rapid result which comes back within 48 hours and the other which can take up to two weeks and it is 100%,” Malone said.
The rapid test can give a false positive.
That’s why it is necessary to look at the total picture. If there is no ultrasound abnormality most laboratories recommend to wait for the full two weeks.
With reporting from Conor McCrave
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This case is unbelievably sad, a baby had to die but peoples outrage seems to hang on the fact that it was a healthy baby that was given the wrong diagnosis as if that takes away from the fact that it was a baby that died. Sick or healthy a baby is a baby, what about the fact that other people are terminating their healthy babies as its now legal to do so. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfect or imperfect, every life is a life, every baby is this baby. If you still think the right to choose is a thing just remember you’re allowing people choose whether to kill sick and healthy babies, babies that have done no wrong, if you voted yes you had a part in their judgement.
It was a clump of cells. Referring to it as a “baby” pushes the anti choice agenda.
Frankly I find it sickening how the anti choice supporters appear to have gleefully pounced on this tragedy to support their agenda giving little thought to the couple concerned.
@WreckDefier: Common ground, neither am I. I can still see that deliberate killing human life is wrong. Its not a religious thing for me it’s a human decency thing. I stand for compassion and dignity for those who are considered less, whether it’s poor people, disabled people, people who are genuinely discriminated against based on their sex or colour and those in utero who have done absolutely nothing wrong and are innocent in every way. Foetus is the medical term for a human being in utero the rest of us non medical people call it a baby. I know when I was pregnant my baby moved or had the hiccups, I didn’t say my foetus moved or had the hiccups. Even when scanned at 12 weeks the sonographer pointed at the screen and said there’s your heartbeat, babies head, babies arms etc.
@sequoia: I’m afraid you just lost any point that you may have had with your “anti choice” nonsense. Tell the parents of this baby that they didn’t lose a baby.
@Briscoe Sundara:
Because for the medical personnel involved in suspected cases of FFA it’s the cheapest option.
Imagine the expense on the health services of the expectant mother carrying the baby to term, not to mention the additional expense of caring for the child until nature took it’s course.
No, the quickest and cheapest option is termination.
If they get it wrong, as in this case, so what, there will be no consequences for getting it wrong, only the litany of excuses being trotted out in the comments here and elsewhere.
Welcome to the brave new world of safe, legal and rare abortion in Ireland where everyone is a loser.
So it looks like;
1 – anomalies detected parents opted for genetic testing
2 – carried out NIPT test on maternal blood which is usually 99% accurate
3 – carried out amniocentesis which takes longer and is 100% accurate
4 – didn’t wait for amniocentesis results
5 – got termination
6 – amniocentesis came back negative for Edward’s syndrome
7 – somehow this is the HSE’s fault. We’d like our millions please.
8 – long, expensive inquiry into hospital that will turn up nothing
9 – pro-birth cohort will get all riled up, try to introduce legislation to make the hard-earned repeal of the 8th backslide.
@Sarah: this was a clustermuckup as a result of recently enacted legislation.. of course this needs to be legislated for and made to never happened again.. cant just brush it aside as a happenstance..
@John Kelly: i’m not bothering to argue this with you. again. I’ve explained why it was unfortunate but also a sound medical call.
And it wasn’t recently enacted legislation which will and has helped thousands of women cannot be reversed because of this 0.01% occurrence.
@Sarah: in other words you are giving up with an eye roll .. this wax wrong from start to finish and was allowed to happen because of recently enacted legislation..
@Sarah: “pro-birth cohort” When will pro choicers see that abortion is still the birth of a human. Albeit one that was killed before it had a chance to take its first breath.
Ultimately the decision was with the parents, and I’m sure it wasn’t made easily, as someone who was told their daughter was going to have serious issues in life, however this was before the amendment was made to the 8th, it still never crossed our minds to terminate, and our Daughter is 100% fine and healthy.
@Gavin R: unfortunately the decision was not with the parents, the decision was the lady’s. I’m not apportioning blame, there is no blame as far as the lady is concerned, just pointing out that the gentleman had absolutely no say whatsoever in the decision, ultimately. That fact is my only regret with this new legislation.
@Tony Harris: Sorry as much as I am all for mens rights this decision is for a woman only, its her body and she has to go through with the hole birth, the man just holds her hand.
Not to be flippant but I taught this is just a clump of cells and not a viable life at 15 weeks? Or at least that what the yes voters believe so on there logic no life has been lost here noting to see here move on
There should be a review and what went wrong needs to be understood fully so procedures can be put in place to ensure that the chances of such an even t happening again are minimised. Termination for FFA is something that should be available to the women of Ireland on their home soil, but the full process of diagnosis needs to be as reliable as possible.
@John Kelly: It was a rare misdiagnosis. The test is 99.85% accurate.Why not have the decency to wait until more is known instead of squealing that you were’ sold a pup’?
@The Risen: You were one of the biggest advocates for repealing the 8th, which was never only about aborting babies with FFA, most of the poor babies aborted in the Country will be healthy and I hope you and the rest of the repeal the 8th brigade can live with yourselves.. Myself and my wife have always said even if we got the awful news that something bad may be wrong we would still go through with the pregnancy because for one as proven in this case doctors don’t always get it right and secondly it’s our baby and I think we owe it the right to let nature take its course. There is nothing natural about killing a Baby in the Womb
@David Garland: “most of the poor babies aborted in the Country will be healthy and I hope you and the rest of the repeal the 8th brigade can live with yourselves..”
A: Embryos and foetuses are aborted, babies are not
B: As a husband and father to a daughter, I have no problem with the part I played in ensuring that safe, supervised, legal abortion be made available to women in this state.
@The Risen: well you might have no problem with it, but you should should. Maybe reflect a bit on what exactly it is you’ve been banging on about for years.
@The Risen: Get a grip.. It’s a baby.. I don’t know any woman who has had Miscarraige after Miscarraige and say “Ah well, it was only an Embryo” Nothing to get upset about. Maybe in your warped mind it’s not a baby but I know in our family we call them Babies..
@David Garland: You can call it whatever you want, but if you want to engage in a reasoned, adult, discussion on such a serious matter, using the correct terminology will help you be taken more serious by people outside of the pro birth brigade.
It’s first and foremostly a tragedy for the parents. Sadly none of us can offer solace over the internet. I hope they find some sort of healing in time.
@eric nelligan: Termination for FFA is far from liberal in a global context. Please stop using this couples tragedy to push your male conservative catholic agenda.
@eric nelligan: If you do the same for all the evils that the church done on this country including murder, rape, cover up of both, throwing dead babies in septic tanks, oppression, selling unmarried mothers babies, throwing unmarried mothers into slave labor against their will…..I could go on and on pal.
@The Risen: I dont have a Male conservative catholic agenda .. I just respect life .. this is a clustermuckup for everyone .. stop pushing your athiestic lefty liberal agenda and using this case to prop it up ..
@windbag: Have to say, watching the usual suspects masks slip yesterday with their vicious hyperbolic comments yesterday was a stark reminder of why pregnant women in this state needed bodily autonomy.
@John Kelly: Says a lot that you hadn’t even commented in this thread but thought my comment was directed at you regardless. I was directing it at eric,
@The Risen: there you go again, unable to acknowledge that abortion causes death, then you bring in the Catholic Church because you can’t defend yourself, a desperate attempt by an anonymous account too insecure your views to comment under your own identity.
The rush to terminate without in the Professor’s own words, two tests one quick flawed the other 100%,, would lead one to think that in the eyes of whoever was the doctor termination was no big deal
@Willie Bill Bryan: the right to make the decision, and responsibility for it doesn’t lie with the doctor. All a doctor can do is furnish people with all the relevant advice and information that exists.
@Shane McGettrick: Yes, except they didnt furnish that relevant advice. ie that 1 test was left to go to prove conclusivity. none of us know the facts yet but no parent would willingly terminate based on tests they knew to be incomplete. this is a doctor/hospital communication failure.
As this occurred without conclusive test results on an anomaly wouldn’t that be illegal under law for doctors and hospitals to carry out. I say this knowing that there is a contradiction in that the state doesn’t recognise this as life. Also there doesn’t seem to be a genuine sense from the hospital that a life was lost here, the sanitation of this is just hard to grasp, that has to be left right and centre here along with the couple and I would hope the typical Irish thing to protect the institution or ones career wouldn’t precede that but it will
@Brian Murphy: I don’t understand why people are struggling with the >99% accurate part of the NIPT test.
It was a very reasonable call, this was an extremely unlikely and unfortunate occurrence and let’s be honest if they had refused termination until the amniocentesis came back positive they’d probably be sued for “emotional distress” and similarly if any such had come back negative and the child had been born with Edward’s syndrome and subsequently died with in a day or two of birth (if even that long) then they’d be sued for emotional distress.
Everyone expects doctors to be perfect and then punish them when they’re not. It’s unfortunate but this wasn’t incompetence, or mismanagement or someone pushing an agenda, just an unfortunate outlier.
People take exception to that, reducing someone to an “outlier” but the cold hard truth is that’s life.
@Sarah: nope, no excuses if there was another fully comprehensive test yet to be returned then no procedure should have been discussed yet even offered. Completely on the hospital this side of the discussion even if yhe parents decided without the full picture available to them. And your suing for emotional stress argument is just unbelievable. How can you even predict what people will do. How do you even know they would have done that. And the cold hard truth here is a life has been lost and you want to just be a complete apologist for the cause, knowing that there is no coming back from this for this couple
@Sarah: “let’s be honest they’d be sure for emotional distress” you can explain why you said that because I know you have nothing to go on here that’s a terrible charge to make
The Government as usually totally rushed this in order to gain good favour. Rushed in in January and only 5 months later we have this. A total and utter disgrace.
@David Walsh: One tragic case and its a i told you so finger pointing case by the usual suspects, if you are so worried about children do you not agree we should be banning the catholic church because of all the past evils they have done?, I bet what they done is somehow more palatable to you…..religious hypocrisy is by far the most stomach churning of them all.
@Sega Yolo: it’s horrific to see the absolute glee in the old Catholic minority that they have a hard case where systems failed and this couple had to ensure this terrible situation. It won’t help them, but if this misdiagnosis happened under the boat regime, that the anti women trolls want back, they would never know about the misdiagnosis, only the grief.
@Renton Burke: Greeted with glee! That is absolutely monstrous. Tell me, where did u see this glee manifest itself? Or, as I suspect, it’s all just in your twisted head?
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