A grieving mother told a Coroner's Court that she and her husband decided to forgo aggressive resuscitation for their premature newborn daughter without being informed that a severe hospital error had already disrupted the infant's vital heart medication for half an hour.
The mother testified that her elder twin daughter passed away just a day after being born at the Prince of Wales Hospital in June 2023.
Following a premature delivery, the infant was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit with heart problems.
When her condition severely deteriorated the following day, an attending doctor asked the parents if they wished to proceed with aggressive chest compressions.
Hoping to spare their newborn from further physical suffering, the couple made the agonizing decision to decline the procedure.
The parents then held their breathing child until she passed away later that afternoon.
It was only after the infant's death that medical staff disclosed a critical oversight during her earlier emergency treatment.
A doctor informed the parents that a stopcock on an infusion tube had been left closed for approximately 30 minutes in the early hours of the morning, which prevented essential heart-stimulating drugs from entering the baby's body.
Later that same evening, the hospital's chief executive met with the family to formally apologize for the severe medical incident.
During the ongoing inquest, the mother strongly questioned the hospital's transparency, arguing that the medical team failed to disclose the blunder before asking the parents to decide on resuscitation.
She emphasized that the family was forced to make a life-or-death decision completely unaware that a major clinical error had just occurred.
The inquest, overseen by Coroner Raymund Chow Chi-wai alongside a five-member jury, also reviewed the complex medical background leading up to the birth.
The mother had experienced significant pregnancy complications, requiring transfers between specialized hospital units.
While the younger twin suffered from restricted growth in the womb, the elder twin was diagnosed with a narrowed pulmonary heart valve.
Doctors ultimately performed an emergency cesarean section at around 27 weeks of gestation due to a sudden drop in the younger twin's fetal heart rate. The younger twin survived the delivery and remained in stable condition.
The coroner's inquest into the elder twin's death is set to followup.
