Staff at a New Brunswick hospital raised concerns about a high number of emergency caesarean sections six months before a nurse was fired over suspicions that she gave patients dangerous labour-inducing drugs.
Maternity ward staff at Moncton City Hospital were worried about spiking numbers of emergency operations as far back as November, CTV News has learned.
There may have been as many as 120 cases over the past two years.
In recent weeks, hospital staff set up a sting operation that caught a nurse on surveillance video allegedly removing IV bags. When tested, the bags revealed puncture marks and traces of oxytocin, a drug that can trigger strong contractions if administered improperly.
Last Wednesday, a camera allegedly captured the same thing happening again, and the unnamed nurse was fired.
RCMP say they are investigating two cases.
Katie Donovan says she was rushed into surgery while giving birth at the hospital three months ago.
“I heard my mom screaming, ‘That’s not right, there is something ... are you guys giving her too much?’” she recalls. “Something like that. And then his heart rate started dropping.”
Donovan says her son Weston was born with his umbilical cord “so tight around his neck from the contractions being so close together that he wasn’t breathing.”
She wants to know what happened.
“No one’s given me answers, clarity about any of it,” Donovan said.
Others mothers have told similar stories to CTV News.
Paula Doucet, head of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, told reporters on Monday “any time there are allegations of potential harm to patients or compromise to patient safety we are very concerned and empathetic for those involved.”
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions until an investigation has been completed, but called the accusations “very disturbing.”
