Triple zero call played in fatal home birth trial
Andrew Stafford |
A frantic triple-zero call in which a doctor had to be instructed on how to perform CPR on a mother following an ill-fated home birth has been played to a jury.
Robyn Mary James, 67, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter after Vicki Butler died the day she gave birth at her Ipswich home west of Brisbane on December 27, 2017.
It is alleged Ms Butler, 41, died as a result of a postpartum haemorrhage which she suffered between James’s arrival at 5am and when the doctor called an ambulance more than 90 minutes later at 6.42am.
James’s triple-zero call made after the home birth was played to the Brisbane Supreme Court jury on Tuesday on the opening day of her trial.
James described herself as a friend of Ms Butler and not her GP during the call, which was largely devoted to the operator providing detailed instructions on how to perform CPR.
James was heard repeatedly yelling at Ms Butler in an attempt to rouse her after she lost consciousness.
When the operator asked if Ms Butler was breathing, James replied: “I don’t know.”
Photos retrieved from Ms Butler’s phone of her with the newborn showed she had given birth between 3.22am and 4.07am.
Ms Butler initially called James at 3am to say her waters had broken and she felt something was wrong, jurors were told.
When James arrived two hours later, the court was told Ms Butler and her child appeared to be doing well but the mother later deteriorated.
James attended Ms Butler’s home without her doctor’s bag containing her stethoscope or blood pressure monitor, the jury heard.
“She had nothing,” crown prosecutor Greg Cummings told the jury.
When James called an ambulance about 90 minutes later, Ms Butler yelled at the doctor from the bathroom not to do so, saying she did not want to go to hospital.
By the time ambulance officers arrived at 6.50am, a clammy Ms Butler was in the bath with the water running and not breathing with a faint pulse.
Paramedic Ivana Vidler told the court the water was washing Ms Butler’s blood down the drain before she and a fellow officer stepped in to attempt to save her.
She was rushed to Ipswich General Hospital, where doctors tried to revive her, transfusing 23 units of blood.
She was pronounced dead at 6.15pm.
The jury heard Ms Butler was at high risk of postpartum haemorrhage because of her age and high number of pregnancies, but had chosen to deliver her seventh child at home.
The child born during the home birth survived.
It is alleged James was criminally negligent in her delay in seeking emergency assistance for Ms Butler.
It was further alleged she breached her duty of care to Ms Butler in that she should have recognised the symptoms of postpartum haemorrhage and known the potentially fatal consequences.
Defence barrister Craig Eberhardt KC told the jury to listen carefully to the evidence and with an open mind.
“Ms James is not here because she’s alleged to have done something wrong, but because the prosecution alleges she should have done something,” he said.
“It is easy to idealise in hindsight.”
The trial, before Justice Elizabeth Watson, continues.
AAP