A WOMAN was devastated to find her miscarried fetus had been mistakenly packed into a bag with her belongings by hospital staff.

The woman is still trying to cope with the shock of losing her child as well as the trauma of finding the body in her bag in her Ballarat Base Hospital room in December.

The incident is one of a string of lawsuits against the hospital in the past two months. But Ballarat Health Services say there is no cause for alarm.

The woman, who has other children, was 18 weeks pregnant when she went to the hospital with bad bleeding. Despite the efforts of staff she lost the baby.

The woman was admitted to hospital and was recovering from the miscarriage.

Hours after she lost her baby she went to her personal items bag, which is given to patients by the hospital for them to store clothes and other items.

As she put her hands into the bag she came upon a package labelled with her name and wrapped in a towel.

The woman unwrapped the package and found the fetus.

It is believed the woman was alone at the time and called out in shock. Nurses rushed to comfort her.

Ballarat Health spokesman Luke Mullane said a full investigation had been conducted into the event and the hospital would consider any recommendations to improve patient care, safety and support.

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