Daily Mail Australia reported this week a prison nurse who refused to perform CPR on a newborn baby inside Melbourne’s Dame Phyllis Frost Center has immunity from prosecution. ‘Baby A’ was just 12 days old when she died in her mother’s arms inside the prison’s exclusive ‘Mother and Baby Units’ in 2018. The prison houses some of the country’s deadliest women, including gangland matriarch Judy Moran and “Black Widow” serial killer Robin Lindholm. The women live together in large groups inside the women’s prison Black Widow Killer Robin Lindholm Calls Dame Phyllis Frost Home Inside Dame Phyllis Frost: Inmates were forced into lockdown for four days after a baby died in the special Mother and Baby Units in August last year Victorian coroner John Olle will spend up to two weeks hearing evidence about the infant’s tragic death in the hope of ensuring nothing like it ever happens again. The investigation comes almost three years after a Daily Mail Australia investigation revealed the shocking death of Baby A, who along with her mother cannot be named for legal reasons. The coroner heard prison nurse Georgina Melody refused to give the baby CPR, claiming he was already dead when alerted by the baby’s frantic mum. On Thursday, four inmates, who can only be named as Cathy, Beth, Alice and Donna, will take to the witness box to recount the shocking night Baby A was abandoned by the authorities. Daily Mail Australia can reveal it was 5.30am. when Baby A’s mother called for help after finding her child not breathing. The court heard her fellow inmates tried to help with CPR while they waited for guards to open the doors to “allow medical attention”. “The nurse on duty attended but did not perform CPR after assessing that Baby A had been dead for some time,” the documents state. “Members of the Country Fire Authority and Ambulance Victoria responded but Baby A was pronounced dead at the scene.” Despite the tragedy, counsel assisting coroner Rachel Elliard told the court that the validity of the prison program itself would not form any part of the inquiry. “I emphasize that the inquiry is not about the validity or appropriateness of the Mothers and Children Program or whether, as a general rule, children should live in prison. That broader question does not arise on the facts here,” he said at the start of the inquest. However, the investigation hopes to provide answers as to how Baby A even ended up locked in prison with her drug addict mother and prison guards. “Baby A’s case raises important questions about how children in his position are cared for and whether those with the power and responsibility to take action to protect Baby A’s welfare exercised those powers and responsibilities in a way that protected best interests,” Ms Ellyard said. . Panoramic view of Melbourne’s infamous Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. It houses some of Australia’s worst female prisoners The Dame Phyllis Frost Center can accommodate 604 inmates and includes a special unit for mothers and their children, from babies to pre-schoolers The Dame Phyllis Frost Center now contains a room that no other inmate dares to sleep in. It is the room where a newborn baby died Ms Melody’s lawyer, Robert Harper, told the court his client would refuse to give evidence at the inquest unless the nurse was granted immunity from “civil penalty”. “It is not disputed that Nurse Melody did not perform CPR,” he said. The court heard the nurse’s decision not to help the baby shocked not only the baby’s mother, but also prison staff and investigators. In a chilling impact statement, the baby’s mother expressed her frustration at her jailers’ alleged failure to help. “I still can’t understand why none of the staff did CPR or anything on the baby until the firemen arrived,” he told the court. Many prison guards expressed similar concern about the nurse’s alleged failure to provide aid to the baby. “I did not see the nurse perform CPR on the child. I found this very painful to watch,” said one guard. “I was surprised and saddened by this lack of action,” said another. A prison warden told the inquest that he too was upset about Ms Melody’s “inactivity” on the night. “I was amazed that no one was giving medical treatment to the baby,” he said. Dr Julia Charlton, a fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute who provided an expert opinion on the investigation, condemned the nurse for failing to act. “The first responders could have performed CPR earlier, particularly the nurse on the scene, who was a trained professional … the actions of the other first responders cannot be faulted,” he told the inquest. Inside a standard prison cell at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. A coroner is expected to investigate how a baby died inside its concrete walls Babies are forced to wait for treatment inside the Dame Phyllis Frost Center in Melbourne.
TIMELINE OF DISASTER
Baby A’s mother has been in custody since the end of January 2018 and spent almost her entire pregnancy in custody.
She had used ice and heroin prior to her incarceration and was prescribed methadone throughout her pregnancy.
The mother applied to enter the prison’s mother program, which was reviewed by a steering committee on May 8 of that year.
A child protection representative on the committee and its director felt the application should be refused.
On May 20, the program officer emailed committee members asking for their consent to support the application.
“For reasons that are not clear” the email was not sent to the child protection representative.
Other committee members supported the application, as did the prison’s Director General after a meeting she had with Baby A’s mother on May 25.
On May 30, her application was finally approved.
The four inmates who will testify on Thursday have already given a glimpse of the nightmare they each lived with the distraught mum in prison.
The mother and the underweight baby had only been released from the hospital that afternoon.
Baby A’s mum had woken up to find him unresponsive – a death later revealed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
“It’s clear from her statement about the impact of the coronavirus that she felt there was a delay. Her inmates’ statements also show how long it took them before any help arrived,” Ms Elliard said.
“When help came in the form of the guards and then the nurse, it was alarming to some that CPR was not attempted.
“Baby A may already have been beyond help, but the evidence will look at whether overall Baby A and her mother received a timely response, bearing in mind that they were locked in a prison unit with no access to the outside world except through help. of prison officials”.
Coroner Olle granted Ms Melody a certificate of immunity – saving her from any possible repercussions from anything she says in the witness box next week.
While the inaction of prison staff has come under scrutiny, the inquiry is likely to establish how Baby A and her mother were let down by those employed by taxpayers to keep them safe.
The court heard Baby A’s mother was a long-term drug addict, and saw the child born into custody with an addiction to methadone – a drug used to wean drug addicts off heroin.
Judy Moran lives in a disability unit within a special section of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. She was once the matriarch of the Moran crime family, who was killed during Melbourne’s gangland wars
Despite concerns about Baby A’s mum being given access to the child in prison, child welfare staff were left out of the loop when the decision was finally made by a steering committee and did nothing when they finally found out just days before he died the child.
The coroner will determine whether Baby A’s mother’s wishes to be with her baby clouded the minds of those who made the decisions to put the baby back into custody with her.
Baby A was discharged from hospital a few days after birth before returning for two additional nights due to weight concerns.
In the afternoon, baby A was discharged again, weighing less than her birth weight a few days earlier.
Under the prison’s program, children up to preschool age are allowed to live with mothers inside the maximum security prison.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice and Community Safety declined to comment on a series of allegations made to her about the incident when questioned in 2019 and instead referred Daily Mail Australia to its website.
“Victoria Police have been called to investigate and provide a report to the coroner,” the spokeswoman said at the time.
Multiple sources told Daily Mail Australia the tragedy occurred at night when staffing was at a minimum.
The prisoners in the special unit were sleeping when they were awakened by the young mother’s haunting screams.
An inmate reportedly saw the motionless child on a couch with the hysterical mother screaming for help.
Another young mum on the unit, who had no CPR training, tried desperately to revive the baby but was unsuccessful.
When guards arrived, they immediately called a “code black” for the prison nurse, but reportedly made no attempt to revive the little girl themselves.
Inmates were put on lockdown for four days after the tragedy while police and prison authorities tried to piece together what had happened.
Under the prison’s initiative, incarcerated mothers are only allowed two visits a week, however, they can apply to collect their babies from their loved ones on any other day.
Corrections Victoria claims mothers who have their child living with them in prison are housed in…
