Mum’s ONE demand after her baby daughter died in her arms following horrific birth at Latrobe Regional Hospital in Gippsland

A grieving mother whose daughter died after a horrific birth is calling for an immediate independent inquiry into the hospital she says could have saved her baby’s life.

Natalie Lont’s second child Lacey was one of three infants who died after treatment at Latrobe Regional Hospital in Victoria’s Gippsland region in just six weeks.

As Lacey was dying in her arms a week after being born, Ms Lont vowed to her daughter the medical system she blames for her loss would eventually be held accountable. 

The deaths of Lacey and two other babies are being reviewed by Latrobe Regional Hospital and Safer Care Victoria, which falls within the Victorian Department of Health.

But Ms Lont and her legal team say any inquiry must be independent of Safer Care Victoria for it to uncover systemic hospital failures.

‘The community is currently in the dark about what’s going on at Latrobe Regional Health and this needs to change,’ lawyer Michael Passaro said. 

‘We’re not saying what Latrobe Regional Hospital should have done differently, or what systemic changes need to take place. We don’t yet know, and that’s the point.

‘We believe an independent inquiry will help shine a light on the truth in an impartial manner, so the right changes can be made which help to safeguard the community and prevent more needless tragedies.’

In the past five years there have reportedly been at least nine sentinel events – patients who have died or suffered serious harm due to adverse care – at Latrobe Regional Hospital.

Lacey’s death is among those that were allegedly preventable and the story of her short life is harrowing.

Ms Lont first knew something was wrong when she began bleeding heavily at her Traralgon home at about 10.45pm on September 21 last year. 

Deciding it was quicker to get herself to hospital than calling an ambulance, Ms Lont arrived at the nearby facility just after 11pm and was taken to the maternity ward.

Ms Lont informed staff she was ‘actively bleeding out’ but was told she could be in the early stages of labour and might be able to go home and return 24 hours later.

‘The bleeding wouldn’t stop, the pain continued to get worse,’ the 31-year-old told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘And then I screamed and begged for mine and my daughter Lacey’s life for several hours. 

‘I used the words, “Please help, I’m dying – get her out – someone do something”. And it fell on deaf ears. I was told, “Everything’s fine”.’

Ms Lont, who was haemorrhaging from a ruptured placenta, said monitors showed Lacey was in severe distress as she waited two-and-a-half hours for an epidural.

‘All I knew is I was dying,’ she said. 

‘I continued to bleed out. I started hitting my head on the bedhead. I became quite physical because no one would listen to me.

‘And then at 2.36am they finally got Lacey out of me and put her on me and she was deceased. But they didn’t realise straight away. 

‘I had to question twice, “Is she OK”? I was told she’s fine and then it was discovered she wasn’t fine.’

Staff spent 11 minutes resuscitating Lacey before she was intubated and taken with her mother to Monash Children’s Hospital, about 140km away in Melbourne.

Ms Lont said the care Lacey received at Monash was ‘amazing’ but her daughter had no brain activity and her only movement was due to constant seizures.

‘Being on life support I was very limited in what I could do with her,’ she said. 

‘So I never saw her cry, never saw her open her eyes.’ 

After a week, Ms Lont made the decision to turn off Lacey’s life support and she died peacefully in her arms. 

‘When she passed, I got my first proper cuddle when they pulled the tubes out,’ she said. 

‘It’s pretty depressing when your first proper hold of your baby is after they’ve passed away.’

Ms Lont spent the night in a cold cot with her dead daughter. She was only allowed to spend 15 hours with Lacey because her death had to be investigated by the coroner.

The single mother of Lacey’s nine-year-old sister Isla said there had been ‘a lot of concerns and red flags’ which were ignored at Latrobe Regional Hospital.

‘I wasn’t listened to,’ she said. 

‘I didn’t feel heard. My screams fell on deaf ears and now due to that hospital I have a lifetime of a nightmare that I am living. 

‘I’m not even five months into my life sentence and every waking minute is heavy. I nearly lost my life in that birth and I feel like I died with Lacey because I will never be the same.’

Ms Lont, who spends her days visiting Lacey’s grave, wants to know why she was not given an emergency caesarean section at Latrobe. 

‘I want accountability,’ she said. 

‘I want to know what went wrong – how, who, why? Why was I left to have my baby die inside me? 

‘Nothing brings Lacey back but the bare minimum Lacey is owed is answers and accountability and someone held responsible for her death.  

‘I want people to know how beautiful and perfect she was. She paid the ultimate price – her life.

‘I don’t want anyone to ever experience what myself and Lace went through. There needs to be accountability and it needs to be known.

‘When Lace was dying in my arms I made her a promise that her name will be known, her story will be told and justice will prevail.’

Georgie Crozier, Victoria’s Opposition spokeswoman for Health, is a former nurse and midwife. She is concerned about ‘systemic failures’ at Latrobe and has been calling for an independent inquiry.

‘It’s evident from what’s come out that there wasn’t proper supervision of inexperienced or junior staff,’ she said.

‘I don’t think Safer Care Victoria have done their job and that’s why I think there needs to be an independent inquiry given the number of deaths.

‘Not just this cluster of baby deaths but the number of sentinel events that have occurred over the last few years.’

Mr Passaro’s firm Law Partners is representing other former patients of Latrobe Regional Hospital.  

‘We believe the care Nadine and her child received may not have been satisfactory and we understand that Nadine’s experience may not have been an isolated case,’ he said.

Mr Passaro has written to Victoria’s Health Minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, requesting an independent investigation into the hospital.

He cited media claims that at least seven patients treated at Latrobe had died since 2022 ‘in circumstances that were reportedly avoidable’. 

Mr Passaro also referred to the three babies, including Lacey, who had died over six weeks up to last October. 

‘While we appreciate the important role Safer Care Victoria plays in investigating reported sentinel events, we respectfully submit that a truly independent inquiry into potential issues at LRH is necessary,’ he wrote. 

‘We believe this is particularly important given Safer Care Victoria has reportedly investigated issues strikingly similar to those that occurred as recently as October 2024, yet no material improvements appear to have been publicised or acted upon.’ 

Safer Care Victoria chief executive officer Louise McKinlay said her agency worked with health services to ‘help them prevent and learn from patient harm’.

‘I pass on my deep condolences to each of the families and their friends effected as they navigate this difficult time,’ she said.

‘My team continues to have an active role in the oversight and support of quality and safety matters at Latrobe Regional Health to ensure appropriate responses occur for any concerns raised.

‘I am confident in the plan in place to support the service and will continue to re-assess the level of support we provide.

Asked if an independent inquiry into Latrobe Regional Hospital was required, Premier Jacinta Allan said she would seek further advice from her health minister.

‘The reported sentinel events at LRH are heartbreaking,’ Ms Allan told the ABC.

‘I make this very clear, based on the advice if there’s more to do, we will do it.’

Ms Thomas said: ‘The death of a child is always a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the affected families during this difficult time.’

She added that Safer Care Victorian had been ‘working to provide additional support to Latrobe Regional Health’ to ensure improvement measures were maintained.

A spokeswoman for the Coroners Court of Victoria told Daily Mail Australia that Lacey’s death was being investigated.

‘His Honour will determine whether an inquest is required to complete that investigation after he has received the brief of evidence and had the opportunity to consider any submissions from the interested parties,’ the spokeswoman said.

‘As this is an active investigation, no further comment can be made.’