A South Australian mother says she is anxious about her daughter’s development after suspecting she was induced prematurely because of an error with the health department’s computer system.
The South Australian Government is investigating a computer system error that led to the due dates of about 1700 pregnant women being calculated incorrectly.
About half of the women affected have been contacted, and no adverse outcomes discovered yet, SA Health said.
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Sass Cramer is among those who are yet to receive a call.
She was induced at what doctors believed was 38 weeks pregnant because she had blood clots, but Cramer believes her pregnancy wasn’t as far along as they had assumed.
“It wasn’t an emergency induction, it could have waited for longer. There was no need for it,” Cramer said.
Her daughter, Airlie, struggled to feed properly when born, and her head was smaller than average.
Doctors and midwives told her during post-birth check-ups they believed Airlie was born preterm.
“We told anyone who would listen that we didn’t think we were that far along, and it’s kind of being gaslit, they just kept saying ‘you are’,” Cramer said.
Several tests also indicated the due date provided was wrong, but medical staff did not listen to the family, she said.
The first month of the baby’s life were difficult. She had to be syringe-fed for some time, and her weight gain has been slow.
Cramer said if she was born preterm, she would have been given more medical support.
She’s also worried about Airlie meeting her growth milestones.
The mistake with SA Health’s electronic system affected pregnant women between November 2023 and June 2024.
SA Health chief executive Dr Robyn Lawrence said women currently pregnant were first to be informed about the error to ensure their upcoming due dates were correct.
She said on Friday, the due date error would have only miscalculated the dates by a few days.
Demi Wilson is another South Australian woman who believes she was impacted, but has yet to be called by SA Health.
Wilson’s daughter, Pipa, was diagnosed with a heart defect before she was born.
She said she was 21 weeks pregnant when medical staff gave her a due date that seemed incorrect.
“I have a history of losses and I knew my last date of conception, so I knew exactly when Pipa was conceived,” Wilson said.
“They gave me a due date that was two weeks earlier, and that’s when I first started fighting it.
“I was scared. I didn’t want her to come early. I wanted her to have the best chance at life. I didn’t want them to overrule me when I knew my body and I knew my baby.
When she argued against the medical advice, she says staff told her: “Lots of mums absolutely love changing their due date to have an earlier baby.”
Wilson had to have an emergency induction at 39 weeks, but said if she went along with the due date provided to her, Pipa would have been born a month early and the outcomes could have been catastrophic.
“She needed the best chance of growing so she could be strong for the outside world … she wouldn’t have been developed enough, she wouldn’t have been strong enough to eat and things could not have been well for her,” Wilson said.
“The health care system should have been on mine and my baby’s side, that’s what they’re there for, but they weren’t protecting her the way they should have.”
SA Health has since fixed its computer system error and expects the results of a review investigating it to be released in a couple of months.
SA Health advised anyone concerned about their care to contact the 24/7 hotline on 08 7111 3427.
