A Kuwaiti woman facing a possibly life-threatening birth on Nauru is being denied airlift to Australia

NAURU – Doctors have pleaded for a heavily pregnant refugee on Nauru facing a complex and possibly life-threatening birth to be moved to an Australian hospital.

The 37-year-old Kuwaiti is more than 35 weeks’ pregnant, her baby is in breech and she has a large fibroid or benign tumour on the wall of her uterus. She has previously had a miscarriage on Nauru.

But the Australian government has said that she must deliver her baby on Nauru, saying there are “comprehensive” medical services on the island.

The woman, whom the Guardian has chosen not to name, has been prescribed the antidepressant drug Citalopram, a pregnancy class C medication that, Australian guidelines state, has “caused or may be suspected of causing, harmful effects on the human foetus”.

The Guardian has confirmed the woman remains on Nauru, despite medical transfer flights leaving the island during the last week.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection declined to comment on the refugee’s specific circumstance but told the Guardian: “Australia provides comprehensive medical support services to the regional processing centre in Nauru and to the Nauruan government health facilities.

“The department does not comment on individuals’ medical situations.”

The department’s chief medical officer, Dr John Brayley, was made aware of the woman’s impending complex delivery a month ago.

In subsequent correspondence sent last week, the president of Doctors for Refugees, Dr Barri Phatarfod, told Brayley: “We have discussed this case with Australian obstetric specialists who all agree that she should definitely come to Australia for the delivery, cautioning that elective breech vaginal deliveries have recently had some quite adverse outcomes in Australia.

“Any manual attempt at turning the baby should only be done by experienced obstetricians in the presence of an operating theatre and team ready to proceed to immediate caesarean section and with appropriate neonatal expertise and facilities on hand.

“We urge you as the chief medical officer of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and in your profession as a doctor to comply with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists standards and take urgent steps to ensure this woman is brought to Australia immediately and receive the care she needs.”

Phatarfod told the Guardian that the woman faced a “very complex delivery”.

“The risks to her life, and to her baby’s life, are very significant,” she said. “In pregnancy, and in the delivery of babies, when things go wrong, they can go dreadfully wrong.

“But she can be given the best possible care very simply by being brought to Australia. ”

Several babies have been born to refugee women in offshore immigration detention.

Until 2015, it was government practice that refugee and asylum seeker women in offshore detention be flown to Australia to give birth, because of access to superior tertiary hospital care.

Nauruan women facing complex births are still routinely flown to Australia for delivery and follow-up treatment.

However, since 2015, it has been Australian government policy that asylum seekers and refugees deliver babies on Nauru because of their “propensity” to exercise their legal rights in Australia’s courts and seek an injunction against their removal from Australia.

Babies born in Australia to women moved from offshore detention are regarded by the department as “illegal maritime arrivals”, despite having never been on a boat nor having left Australia.

- Guardian