And Here I Was Thinking It Was Only Me Who Found A Way Into Incompetent Hospitals

Miscarried Fetus 'Mistakenly' Placed in Mom's Bag

An Australian woman was devastated to find her miscarried fetus had been mistakenly packed into a bag with her belongings by hospital staff.

The woman is still trying to cope with the shock of losing her child as well as the trauma of finding the body in her bag in her Ballarat Base Hospital room in December.

The incident is one of a string of lawsuits against the hospital in Ballarat in Victoria, Australia, in the past two months. But Ballarat Health Services say there is no cause for alarm.

The woman, who has other children, was 18 weeks pregnant when she went to the hospital with bad bleeding. Despite the efforts of staff, she lost the baby.

The woman was admitted to the hospital and was recovering from the miscarriage.

Hours after she lost her baby she went to her personal items bag, which is given to patients by the hospital to store clothes and other items.

As she put her hands into the bag she came upon a package labeled with her name and wrapped in a towel.

The woman unwrapped the package and found the fetus.

It is believed the woman was alone at the time and called out in shock. Nurses rushed to comfort her.

Ballarat Health spokesman Luke Mullane said a full investigation had been conducted into the event and the hospital would consider any recommendations to improve patient care, safety and support.

"We are extremely saddened and deeply regret what occurred and feel greatly for the family," he said.

"Ballarat Health Services offered all necessary support services to assist the family in coming to terms with the loss at the time and is continuing to do so.

"Since this event there have been a number of changes made in our procedures to ensure that families have the opportunity to consider their care options."

The woman was discharged after two days in hospital.

The law firm Slater and Gordon is representing the woman but would not comment."

Speechless.