Daughter's ACC battle won but wait goes on

Published: 7:34AM Saturday June 08, 2013 Source: Fairfax

Carla Grobler, of Paraparaumu, and her daughter, Amelia Grobler Barrington, 3, who was left brain-damaged after a serious medical mishap - Source: Fairfax

After winning a 3-year battle with ACC on behalf of her brain-damaged daughter, Carla Grobler feels like the war is only just beginning.

In 2009, Grobler gave birth to a girl in Christchurch Hospital. Soon afterwards, the baby, named Amelia, developed seizures and was diagnosed with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy - a brain injury caused by a deprivation of oxygen.

Several hours before delivery, Grobler was running a high fever. During the delivery, a doctor had difficulty turning the baby into the correct position.

A caesarean section was ordered but a midwife had forgotten to inform the anaesthetist that Grobler had previously experienced problems with an epidural. This resulted in Grobler being able to feel the scalpel as the procedure began, leading to another delay in delivery while a general anaesthetic was administered.

When baby Amelia finally arrived, she had to be resuscitated and soon began suffering seizures.

But ACC declined Grobler's injury claim after it received medical advice that chorioamnionitis, a bacterial infection, could have been the cause of the injury.

That decision was upheld during an independent review, but Grobler appealed against it in the District Court after gathering the opinions of several medical experts who believed the late delivery was the predominant cause.

Judge David Ongley has overturned ACC's decision, after ruling that, while chorioamnionitis probably contributed to the injury, the delay in delivery added significantly to its severity.

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Daughter's ACC battle won but wait goes on