Surviving Childbirth Should Not Require a Lawsuit -By Fransiscus Nanga Roka

A mother’s survival should never become an institution’s alibi. Saving someone’s life deserves gratitude. Whether earlier care unnecessarily endangered that life deserves scrutiny. Both propositions can be true.

That distinction belongs at the center of the $7 million lawsuit brought in Guelph, Ontario, by Conservative MP and physician Matt Strauss and his wife, Simone ten Kortenaar. Their claim names Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Guelph General Hospital, Cambridge Midwives and individual healthcare professionals, alleging failures surrounding their son’s September 12, 2024 birth and subsequent treatment. The lawsuit seeks compensation for alleged lasting injury and its consequences for work, independence and family life. These are allegations, not judicial findings.

The report on the 44-page claim, which includes allegations that ten Kortenaar passed a large blood clot, one that is potentially life-threatening, a day after delivery and visited but left before seeing a medical professional. Cambridge Memorial’s emergency department. About three weeks later, she was admitted to Guelph General again for more heavy bleeding, and underwent dilation and curettage. In a separate report, Strauss went into detail about uterine rupture, nearly fatal bleeding and life support. These narratives require some reconstituting; they should not be reduced to a medically verified story of incompetence.

A more politically convenient narrative is that Strauss complimented clinicians & then sued in March 2025. Gratitude, however, is not an atonement from accountability. A family can appreciate a lifesaving rescue and wonder if earlier decisions necessitated such a rescue in the first place. On the other hand, as with everything in life, one bad result does not lead to the conclusion that any particular doctor failed to meet the necessary standard.

The claims are untested and no statements of defence have yet been filed, CHVN reported on September 24. The institutions either declined to comment substantively or did not respond. Such a procedural snapshot cannot be confused with an admission, ortoday, a definitive version of the court record.

The more difficult public question is describing how maternity services should pick up deterioration at the interfaces between discharge, community follow-up, emergency triage and specialist treatment. Every time responsibility is handed off between institutions, someone needs to be left holding the bag by ensuring that the patient actually receives care.

Ontario should pursue four reforms.

The first is to create an auditable postpartum escalation pathway: definition of worrying symptoms, access to obstetric expertise, transfer arrangements and named clinical ownership for follow-up. Instructions for discharge should describe whom to contact and how urgently the reassessment will occur.

Second, institutional break or conduct in the area of severe maternal emergencies. Timelines should be reconstructed, staffing and communication scrutinised, the patient story incorporated and unavoidable complications disaggregated from avoidable harm. Disclose anonymous results and timelines for reform.

Third, make accountability practically accessible. Secure clinical records and electronic audit trails, ensure self, even patients have timely access, facilitate independent expert assessment and early resolution when evidence supports defectiveness. A family does not need to be politically visible to get a coherent explanation.

Fourth, you collect data on what happens in the post delivery period emergency returns, delays in assessment and severe complications and audit completion within a specified time frame. Fund the capacity that is needed to strengthen those metrics. A staffer-less protocol is an administrative commitment.

And the political prominence of Strauss should ensure neither special justice nor reduced credibility. Defendants are entitled to an evidentiary hearing. Treat Ten Kortenaar like a patient looking for answers, not as fodder for partisan theatre.

The court will determine liability. Policymakers have the opportunity to intervene long before another family has to pay for maternal safety through litigation.

Fransiscus Nanga Roka

Faculty of Law University 17 August 1945 Surabaya and Managing Partner Law Firm Victorious Indonesia