Featured Image Credit: 9News
Topics: Australia, Health, Mental Health, Parenting
Poppy Bilderbeck
**Content warning: Contains mention of emergency caesarean, a baby being resuscitated and having a seizure at birth.**
A mum has spoken out after launching legal action against a hospital, accusing it of medically neglecting her child.
In 2019, Lisa Otsen - from Torquay, Australia - was told her baby had an abnormal heart rate and so she'd need to undergo an emergency caesarean.
The mum gave birth to a son named Landon and thought all was well, however, two months later, she was forced to take her baby to the doctors when he wouldn't stop crying.
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Little did the mum realise the extent of the issue.
Otsen tells 9News she went home after giving birth to Landon - who is now four years old - 'thinking [her] son was healthy'.
She said: "I was put under [during the birth], so I wasn't really there to witness what happened."
However, upon returning to the doctors two months down the line, Otsen and her partner were shocked when the hospital revealed the results of Landon's MRI scan.
Otsen says an expert turned around and revealed there were signs of brain damage on Landon's scan.
The mother recalls: "[They said] this is what it can look like and they handed me some pamphlets on cerebral palsy."
After hiring Shine Lawyers, Otsen claims she later came to learn the details surrounding her birth.
"They had to resuscitate him. He had a seizure at birth, a whole bunch of things we weren't told," she says. "It wasn't fine. It was horrific."
To make it worse for the parents, Otsen was told by an independent medical expert that Landon's brain damage could have been 'avoided'.
The expert resolved action should have been taken sooner to deliver the child.
Shine Lawyers' Daniel Opare said: "For a lot of people, they don't realise that their child's cerebral palsy was because of poor care until they engage a lawyer."
Otsen and her family are now suing Geelong Hospital - which is part of Victoria's largest regional health care provider, Barwon Health.
The lawsuit states their son's cerebral palsy may have been avoided had the hospital performed an emergency caesarean sooner.
The parents are subsequently accusing the hospital of medical negligence.
Otsen resolves: "I'm his full-time carer. I have to do everything for him. It's changed our life immensely. I can't work, I feel like I neglect my other son.
"We just want to make things easier for him so he can live a full and happy life."
Tyla has contacted Barwon Health for comment.