Parents say poor communication compounded grief after newborn’s death at Middlemore Hospital
The mother of a newborn who died at Middlemore Hospital says unclear communication and delays worsened her family’s trauma, while Health NZ maintains the clinical care provided met appropriate standards and has apologised for the additional distress caused.
According to a report by Nicholas Jones of Stuff, Priyanka Prasad gave birth to her daughter, Aaliya, on August 25, 2025. For a short time after delivery, everything appeared normal. Aaliya was placed briefly on her mother’s chest before being taken to be weighed.
“She was crying and moving on the scale, they gave her vitamin K,” Priyanka says.
Soon after, Priyanka noticed her baby was struggling to breathe.
“But she was grunting quite a bit while she was breathing. Her stomach and chest were sucking in,” Nicholas Jones of Stuff has quoted.
Doctors later confirmed Aaliya had meconium aspiration, a condition where a newborn inhales a mixture of amniotic fluid and first stool. She was given oxygen and transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Her father, Tui Kaitani, accompanied her, while Priyanka remained in the maternity ward.
Despite receiving updates from her partner, Priyanka says she felt uneasy.
“I said to him, ‘Something doesn’t feel right’. He texted, ‘No, the doctor said she’s fine, and in 36 hours she will be okay,” as reported by Nicholas Jones of Stuff.
Later that day, Priyanka was taken to the NICU, where Aaliya’s condition deteriorated and she was intubated.
“A doctor told us, ‘Things may get worse before they get better,’” she says.
That evening, Priyanka was returned to the maternity ward for routine checks. She says it took about an hour for an orderly to arrive when she asked to go back to her daughter, with similar delays the next morning.
“Arranging an orderly often seemed like an inconvenience to the staff. This made me feel like a burden at a time when I was already struggling physically and emotionally,” Nicholas Jones of Stuff has reported.
On August 26, Priyanka required a blood transfusion, keeping both parents away from the NICU for several hours. When she returned that afternoon, she says a doctor told her Aaliya’s right lung had partially collapsed.
She says she was not given a clear explanation and was distressed that she had not been informed sooner.
“We were told we would get hourly updates if she was unwell [but] not once did anyone call us,” as reported by Stuff.
That evening, Priyanka says a nurse appeared frustrated by alarms sounding from Aaliya’s monitoring equipment.
“Aaliya was the only baby in NICU whose alarms were going off … the only answer I got from the nurse was, ‘She’s still the same’. That doesn’t mean anything to me … I overheard doctors mention that Aaliya’s blood pressure was very low, yet no one communicated this to me,” as quoted by Stuff.
During an early morning shift change on August 27, staff rushed to treat Aaliya. Priyanka says a doctor later told her that her daughter had deteriorated overnight despite being on the highest level of ventilation.
“Receiving this devastating news alone was unbearable.”
An X-ray showed Aaliya’s lung had fully collapsed and air was leaking into her chest. Doctors inserted a chest drain and began chest compressions around 9am. Despite their efforts, Aaliya could not be revived.
“They said, ‘We are trying but she’s not responding.’ I made the decision to just let her go, because they had already told me she didn’t have oxygen to her brain for about an hour.
“I told Tui to hold her first, because he hadn’t yet. She was still on the oxygen, but slowly passing away. When I held her was when she was pronounced dead,” Stuff has quoted.
After her death, the family spent time in a bereavement room, bathing and dressing Aaliya. Baby Loss NZ organised hand and foot casts, while the Heartfelt organisation provided photographs.
When Priyanka was later alone, the reality of the loss set in.
“Everything just came crashing down, and I felt like my world had been torn apart,” as quoted by Stuff.
The couple later requested medical records, which they say stated Aaliya was critical from birth and that they were aware of her condition, something they dispute. They also raised concerns about the death being recorded as “expected” rather than “unexpected” and the absence of a post-mortem.
Priyanka believes an earlier induction, requested after concerns about Aaliya’s growth, or a transfer to Starship Hospital may have changed the outcome.
After meeting Middlemore staff in September and receiving answers they found unsatisfactory, the couple complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner. The watchdog declined to investigate and referred the matter back to Health NZ.
In a January 14 response, Health NZ said a review of clinical records showed Aaliya was recognised as unwell within hours of birth and that this was communicated to Priyanka. The agency said her oxygen levels were stable until the early hours of August 27, when she rapidly deteriorated due to an air leak in her lung.
Health NZ acknowledged shortcomings in communication.
“On review of your feedback, it is likely that the information surrounding her care … was not clearly communicated to you at the time,” Stuff has quoted.
It apologised for the “added stress” caused by unclear explanations and delays in arranging orderlies, and said steps had been taken to improve communication with families during critical situations.
Vanessa Thornton, group director of operations for Counties Manukau Health NZ, said staff extended their condolences to the family and welcomed further discussion.
Priyanka and Tui say they went public to prevent similar experiences for others and to find some closure. Aaliya is buried at Manukau Memorial Gardens.
“We spend most of our days at the cemetery,” Priyanka says. “We just sit beside her,” as quoted by Stuff.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment