Parents whose newborn died at Northern Beaches Hospital speak out

The grieving parents of a newborn who died following a series of medical delays at Sydney’s Northern Beaches Hospital say their daughter’s death was “completely avoidable” – and are calling for the facility to be returned to full public control.

Harper Atkinson died in February, a day after experiencing severe complications at birth at the 488-bed hospital, which operates under a controversial public-private partnership model. Her parents, Leah Pitman and Dustin Atkinson, believe she could have been saved if urgent care had been available when it was needed most.

“She should be here. She should be in our arms,” Leah told ABC’s 7.30. “But she’s not – and it’s because there was no urgency. No theatre ready. No proper staffing. And now we’ve lost her.”

Harper’s death is the second tragedy in recent months to put Northern Beaches Hospital under scrutiny. In September 2024, toddler Joe Massa collapsed and later died after a three-hour wait in the hospital’s emergency department. Healthscope, the private operator of the facility, admitted that was an “unacceptable failing”.

The NSW government has since vowed never to repeat the public-private model used at the hospital, which serves around 350,000 people on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Leah was initially sent home from the hospital on a Friday due to staff shortages. She returned the next evening after going into labour at home. Though her midwife had prepared a bath for a water birth, things quickly went wrong.

“I felt this intense pain in my lower back, and then my waters broke – with blood,” Leah recalled. “I looked down and just thought, ‘Oh God, is that normal?’”

By 9:30pm, concern was mounting. But it wasn’t until around 10:30pm that an obstetrician arrived and diagnosed a suspected placental abruption – a life-threatening condition for both mother and baby. He immediately called for a Category One caesarean section, the most urgent level of surgical intervention.

But despite the emergency, Leah was left waiting.

“They kept saying, ‘Theatre’s not ready. Theatre’s not ready,’” she said. “I assumed it was busy. We later found out there is no 24/7 theatre.”

Northern Beaches Hospital operates its operating theatre using an on-call model on weekends. Staff must be within 30 minutes’ reach – a delay Leah and Dustin believe cost their daughter her life.

“I was on the operating table 33 minutes after the call,” Leah said. “Harper wasn’t delivered until nearly an hour after the emergency was declared.”

When she was born at 11:52pm, Harper was unresponsive. It took 21 agonising minutes before she drew her first breath.

The following day, Leah and Dustin were told Harper would not survive. They made the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support.

“I should be holding her for the rest of my life, not just once,” Leah said through tears. “Once isn’t enough.”

The family says they were told during a hospital debrief that it was not “economically feasible” to run a 24/7 theatre service. For Dustin, that explanation only deepened their pain.

“Prioritising profit over healthcare. That’s what went wrong,” he said.

Northern Beaches Hospital has launched a review into Harper’s death. But her parents say the issue is already painfully clear. “Time delays,” Leah said. “Things weren’t urgent enough.”

The couple is now calling for the hospital to be brought fully back under public control – and for systemic change in how emergency obstetric care is delivered across the state.

“I feel incredibly angry,” Leah said. “Her death, we feel, was completely avoidable.”

“We’re sharing this because Harper deserves to be more than just another sad story,” she added. “We want change – so this never happens to another family.”

Image: YouTube / ABC