Girl left with permanent scar by bandage after birth
Abigail Byrne, her counsel John O’Mahony told the court, will have this “cross on her forehead for the rest of her life”. The scar, which is 10cm long and 1cm wide, Mr O’Mahony said, “mutilates Abigail’s striking natural beauty”.
Abigail Byrne’s mother, the court heard, was told the mark on her forehead would fade within a week but a public health nurse on a visit after the mother’s discharge from hospital said it looked permanent and told her to seek advice on it.
Mr O’Mahony told the court the scar will never go away and options such as plastic surgery will not be available to Abigail until she is in her late teens.
Abigail Byrne, of Tobartae House, Ryefield West, Whitechurch, Co Cork, has through her mother Jennifer Byrne sued the HSE as a result of her treatment after her birth in 2011 at Cork University Maternity Hospital.
Abigail had been delivered by forceps delivery on the morning of January 14, 2011, after a difficult birth. It was advised that a stocking bandage be applied to her head and it remained around her head until the evening of January 15, 2011, which the court heard was about 30 hours.
Liability was admitted in the case which was before the court for assessment of damages only.
In evidence, Ms Byrne said when Abigail was born, she thought her daughter’s head was misshapen. She had a tiny mark from the forceps, but Ms Byrne said she was reassured that the damage was all on the outside of the head. She said a stocking bandage which was an elasticated piece of fabric was recommended for Abigail’s head.
“I can only imagine it was too tight. It was either unwarranted or on for too long,” she said.
“I was reassured it would fade. I was told it would be gone by the end of the week.”
She said they had delayed Abigail’s christening by a month so the mark on her forehead would not be so obvious.
The case will continue in the new law term.
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