The Hospital Authority claims a newborn baby’s brain haemmorhage was caused by the newborn kicking open her ICU cubicle herself and falling to the floor.
According to a statement released by the HA on behalf of Kwong Wah Hospital, the girl was admitted to the Special Baby Care Unit on April 26 for a “respiratory problem” when she was 14 days old.
On May 6, the baby was put into an incubator for observation by a nurse, who reportedly “confirmed” that the child was properly placed inside the apparatus before leaving.
Around fifteen minutes later, the newborn was found lying on the floor crying, having apparently “kicked open” the incubator’s working window and fallen out.
The child’s vital signs were reportedly normal, while X-rays and a CAT scan showed that she was in stable condition.
The hospital performed an MRI scan five days later, which showed that the baby had a “small” haemorrhage in her brain.
During a press conference on Sunday, the girl’s father, surnamed Tsui, called Kwong Wah’s explanation for the incident “unacceptable”.
“[My daughter] couldn’t turn on her side. How could she kick open an incubator and fall out?” he said.
The child remains in stable condition and is under observation in the hospital. According to Kwong Wah’s doctors, no intervention is needed for her “mild injury”.
During his press conference, Tsui spoke of the distress caused to his family. He said, “My wife and I can’t sleep at night, worrying about how this [fall] will affect our baby in the future,” according to the Hong Kong Economic Times.
Susanna Lee, president of the Asia-Pacific Paediatric Nurses Association, told the SCMP that working windows are specifically designed to be too small for babies to fall out of.
“The […] window is for medical staff to put their hands in [and] care for the babies without needing to open the door.”
According to the Hospital Authority, an investigation panel of multi-disciplinary experts will conduct an “in-depth investigation” into the matter, and a report will be submitted to Kwong Wah management within eight weeks.
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