EXCLUSIVE: A dead newborn, a nurse who failed to give CPR and a mother’s prison horror: Findings handed down in tragic ‘Baby A’ case at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre

A nurse who refused first aid to an unconscious baby in one of Australia’s toughest women’s prisons has been cleared of the child’s death.

Prison nurse Georgina Melody, a New Zealand national new to Melbourne, had been refused ‘Baby A’ first aid when she discovered she was not responding to a special unit within Victoria’s Dame Phyllis Frost Center in 2018.

Firefighters were instead forced to resuscitate the baby after finding a faint heartbeat on arrival at the scene.

On Wednesday, coroner John Olle ruled that Ms Melody did not contribute to Baby A’s death by her act ‘or omission’.

“I am not criticizing her in what were very stressful and traumatic circumstances for everyone present,” he said.

Baby A was just 12 days old when she died in August 2018 in the prison’s special ‘Maternal and Child Wards’.

In issuing its recommendations, the coroner found that no individual was responsible for Baby A’s death.

Instead, Judge Olle suggested better communication between the doctors who took Baby A to jail, and the health authorities could have prevented the tragedy.

Baby A, who had been born to her drug-addicted mother in prison, had been even more vulnerable because of her addiction to methadone from the womb.

The court heard that doctors had no idea that prisoners were locked up overnight without access to a dedicated midwife.

“I did not criticize[the doctor’s]clinical judgment that baby A, while frail, was medically fit for discharge on August 17,” said Judge Olle.

“[The doctor]however, did not have the crucial information regarding the circumstances in which Baby A would be discharged.”

Judge Olle advised the Victorian Department of Health to implement a multi-disciplinary approach to the discharge of babies whereby if a caregiver has concerns about a baby being discharged, with particular regard to the environment in which he or she would be discharged, the baby should not be discharged. discharged.

The practice is already well established in other states such as New South Wales.

Judge Olle was also critical of the way women and babies are held within Dame Phyllis Frost.

“Children who are in a correctional facility with their parents or guardian should have better access to health care,” he said.

“I recommend (the prison) to have a neonatologist or midwife on site every day when children are in prison.”

Attorney Julie Munster, who acted for Baby A’s mother during last year’s inquest, said that while the child’s mother accepted that Ms Melody did not contribute to her baby’s death, she was angry at the way she had treated her. had treated.

“We made the comment that it is unfortunate that Nurse Melody did not provide any information or assistance to Baby A’s mother or emergency services personnel,” she said during the inquiry.

Prison guard Amir Gabalawi said during the corona investigation that he saw Ms Melody use a stethoscope to check Baby A’s pulse before quickly announcing that she could not be saved.

The inquest came almost three years after an investigation by Daily Mail Australia uncovered the tragedy – denied by Corrections Victoria at the time.

“I believe the nurse had already determined that the child had died before the paramedics arrived, and I did not witness any first aid being given,” Mr Gabalawi said during the inquest.

“As the nurse checked on the baby, it seemed to me that she herself was shocked by the situation.”

In her closing statement to the inquest, Ms Munster said it was clear that those who witnessed Ms Melody’s behavior were saddened by it.

“Witnesses believed they found the events of the day and Melody’s lack of action or information distressing, which is consistent with the use of the adjective ‘unfortunate’,” Ms Muster said.

“We note that there has been no contestation of that evidence of fear or concern.”

Miss Melody had been given a certificate of indemnity by Judge Olle to appear at the inquest after she objected to appearing voluntarily because she could face disciplinary or civil action.

The court heard that an expert doctor thought that Nurse Melody’s opinion at the time “should be respected.”

“You have to respect the nurse’s judgment that the baby had been dead long enough to resuscitate,” the doctor said during the inquest.

Prison guards had called a ‘code black’ after receiving frantic calls from another inmate that Baby A was unresponsive.

Despite the inquest being told about the frantic situation within the Maternal Unit, Ms Melody claimed she was unaware she was on her way to help a newborn until the moment she saw Baby’s mother A rocked her child’s limp body.

“It was not immediately to my attention who the victim was,” she said during the inquest last year.

Ms. Melody claimed that the situation in the unit did not even resemble an emergency.

“When I came in, I didn’t get a sense of need. I didn’t hear any hysteria or panic,” she said.

Ms Melody further claimed that no one else in the ward was crying on her arrival, nor did anyone tell her that a baby was not breathing or needed help.

During the inquest, a prisoner dubbed “Alice” was heard claiming that the prison nurse refused to even touch Baby A.

“The nurse just said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ That’s it… she didn’t touch the baby,’ Alice said.

Alice was the first inmate to hear Baby A’s mother screaming for help around 4:30 in the morning.

“The baby isn’t breathing,” cried the desperate mother.

While other mothers locked in the unit panicked, Alice desperately tried to get the prison guards to open the door and offer help.

“They kept hanging up,” Alice said. “They said they called a code and to wait…we didn’t know what to do.”

Alice said when prison staff became frustrated with her repeated calls, they turned off the intercom to the room.

The court heard that the prison guards stood by and watched as another prisoner, named ‘Donna’, performed CPR on the baby.

“They said they needed permission to open up,” Alice said.

When prison staff finally entered the ward, Alice claimed they treated the hysterical mother with cold contempt.

“There was no comfort,” she said. “Someone asked her where the baby had been sleeping.”

Ms Melody denied allegations that she had not even touched Baby A or that she immediately apologized to her mother.

The nurse claimed she examined the baby and quickly determined she was dead.

The nurse told Ms. Munster that she was not at all upset by the incident.

‘Not necessary. No,’ she said. ‘No. It was surprising.’

Ms Melody claimed that Baby A’s mother was ‘unwilling’ to work with her when she arrived on the ward.

She was hesitant when I spoke to her at first. She was quiet,” she said.

Ms Munster told Ms Melody that her client had told her that Baby A was not breathing.

“She begged you to help her baby,” Mrs. Munster said.

“No,” Mrs. Melody replied.

Ms Munster accused the nurse of being ‘uncompassionate and unkind’ for not telling Baby A’s mother about the results of the assessment she made, leading her to refuse to resuscitate her baby.

‘No. I don’t accept that,” she said. “I’m a nice person.”