The High Court has granted a Dublin maternity hospital orders allowing it to perform, if required, an emergency blood transfusion to a baby born prematurely just over a week ago.
The child, weighing less than 1kg, was born in the Coombe to Jehovah’s Witnesses parents who have refused to consent to a blood transfusion should it become necessary in an emergency.
At the High Court today, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said after hearing submissions from both the child’s father and the hospital said that he was satisfied to make orders allowing the hospital to administer a blood transfusion to the baby girl, who cannot be identified by order of the court, should the need arise.
The judge’s ruling means a transfusion will only be given to the baby should her condition deteriorate and it becomes necessary to save her life.
Eileen Barrington, counsel for the chief executive officer of the hospital, told the court the child was not in imminent danger.
However, medical staff treating the baby were concerned that if anything were to go wrong, it could go wrong very quickly. The baby had been born at 28 weeks and five days in the maternity hospital last week and counsel said the baby still weighed less than 1kg.
Given the baby’s condition, counsel said the child may require emergency treatment should she develop a number of serious conditions including an infection or respiratory difficulties. If the child developed an infection, the risks included permanent brain damage or death.
Ms Barrington said doctors treating the child state the only way an infection could be treated is by transfusion of blood or blood products. “While this has been explained to the parents, however they had refuse to consent to a transfusion,” Ms Barrington said, adding that the hospital were “aware of and fully respected the parent’s religious beliefs.”
The child’s father, who was not legally represented, told the court that this was a stressful time for the family, particularly the child’s mother. The family was “very happy” with the treatment their daughter received from the hospital to date but they “could not consent to a blood transfusion.”
“We love our girl, we want the best for her,” he said adding the family would like “all other options to be tried first.”
In granting the hospital the orders it sought, the judge also gave the child’s parents permission to have the matter re-mentioned before the courts should the circumstances change.