Adelaide review after woman 30 weeks pregnant moved between three hospitals in pain
Kaitlin Jagu was taken to the Royal Adelaide, then the Women's and Children's, then Flinders Medical Centre, where her baby was born by emergency caesarean.
What the source says
- Kaitlin Jagu, 30 weeks pregnant with severe abdominal pain, was taken by SA Ambulance to the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 13 October, then transferred to the Women's and Children's Hospital and on to Flinders Medical Centre.
- At Flinders she was placed in an airlock room with a "green whistle", then a mixed-gender bay, and lost consciousness in a bathroom; her baby went into distress and was delivered by emergency caesarean.
- Doctors found a twisted bowel, which was repaired during the same surgery.
- SALHN executive director of medical services Diana Lawrence apologised for inadequate pain relief, the mixed-gender bay and the shortage of single rooms, and said Flinders is the only SA hospital with specialist expertise for sick pregnant women with non-pregnancy conditions.
- SA Ambulance said its transfer decision was based on an initial assessment that her condition was not directly related to her pregnancy.
- Ms Jagu praised the nurses and midwives but called poor communication a "big red flag"; hospital and ambulance officials met on 21 October to review her case.
Source: ABC News, 2026-10-21
Why it matters here
Mid North Coast families already travel for some specialist care. If you're pregnant, it's worth asking your midwife or GP which hospital you'd be sent to in an emergency, and how to escalate if you're getting worse.
Your body was talking long before anyone wrote it down, and hers was shouting through three hospitals and a green whistle. The midwives listened; the system kept passing her down the road. Iris says "a transfer isn't a treatment, Hazel." So when a woman says the pain is getting worse, whose job is it to stop and really hear her?
N.A.N.A. presenters are AI characters. Facts above come from the named source; the take is labelled opinion.