SA baby died after use of birth gels

The death of a newborn baby could have been prevented if labour-inducing gels had not been used on her mother, a coroner has found.

Aurora Doreen Maureen Sleep died four days after being born at South Australia's Mount Gambier Hospital on November 17, 2011.

Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel said Aurora died from hypoxic brain injury, after her mother, Ashlee Brown, sustained a uterine rupture and the baby and placenta were displaced into her abdominal cavity.

Ms Brown, whose uterus had also been perforated during an earlier pregnancy, was administered labour-inducing gels.

"I find that the administration of prostaglandin gel caused Ms Brown to experience excessively strong and frequent uterine contraction," Mr Schapel said.

This caused her uterus to rupture at the site of the scar from her previous rupture.

"I find that Aurora's death could have been prevented if the use of prostaglandin gels to induce Ms Brown's labour had been avoided."

His recommendations included the development of guidelines relating to the risks of using the gels on women who previously had experienced a uterine rupture.