‘Incompetent’ midwives caused death of newborn baby girl – after ‘insensitive’ NHS staff tried to blame heartbroken mum
A NEWBORN baby died because of medical care from “incompetent” midwives who tried to blame her mum for the death, an inquest heard.
Sarah Robinson and Ryan Lock were left heartbroken by the loss of their newborn daughter Ida after she passed away just seven days after her birth.
Expectant Sarah had been admitted to hospital when her waters broke in November 2019 and she was later transferred to another facility post-delivery.
But the couple from Morecambe, Lancashire were left “gobsmacked” when allegations arose suggesting Sarah had smoked during her pregnancy.
Now, eight separate shortcomings have been identified by a coroner over the death of Ida Lock.
Coroner James Adeley attacked the “callous and inhumane” treatment of the infant’s family.
Following a five-week inquest at Preston County Hall, coroner Adeley concluded that Ida’s death had been caused by the midwives’ failure to deliver the infant “urgently when it was apparent she was in distress.
He said this contributed to by the lead midwife’s “wholly incompetent failure to provide basic neonatal resuscitation” during the first three-and-half minutes of her life.
This, he said, further contributed to the infant’s brain damage.
Ida had sustained changes to her brain consistent with her clinical history, which included foetal distress prior to delivery and her poor condition when born, the inquest previously heard.
The infant was then transferred to the intensive care unit at Royal Preston Hospital’s neonatal unit, where she died on 16 November 2019.
Mr Adeley said baby Ida could have survived if she had been born just “six and a half minutes earlier”, prior to the failings occurring.
He made a Prevention of Further Deaths order to be sent to the Secretary of State for Health after a hard-hitting analysis of the hospital’s handling of Ida’s birth.
Ryan told the inquest: “It’s a sheer test of endurance that no parent should endure… It’s a fight for justice, in my eyes.
“Words truly cannot express how heartbreaking it was to lose Ida and there is not a single moment when we do not think about her and what she may have become.
“The coroner found there was a litany of lamentable failures which led to the death of our beautiful baby girl.
“There has been systemic failings at the Trust. Why did we have to endure this? As a family we have only wanted answers as to what happened to Ida.”
Sarah and Ryan previously described how they had endured “a roller coaster of emotions” in a fight for answers from hospital bosses.
Ida’s parents then complained to University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), which runs the hospital.
In a previous hearing, Sarah said there had been a “real sense of obstruction” from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), which runs the hospital.
The mum compared an internal hospital report, which found no care delivery issues, to a later independent probe, which uncovered numerous failings, as “like night and day”.
Delivering his conclusion, Dr Adeley said: “Ida was a normal child whose death was caused by a lack of oxygen during her delivery that occurred due to the gross failure of the three midwives attending her to provide basic medical care to deliver Ida urgently when it was apparent she was in distress.
‘WE FAILED IDA’
In a statement, Tabetha Darmon, chief nursing officer of UHMBT, said: “Losing a child is tragic and our heartfelt condolences go out to Ida’s parents, family and loved ones. We are truly sorry for the distress we have caused.
“We accept that we failed Ida and her family and if we had done some things differently and sooner, Ida would still be here today.
“We also acknowledge the additional upset caused to Ida’s parents and family as a result of the way investigations into Ida’s death have been conducted since 2019.
“For that, we are truly sorry.
“We take the conclusions from the coroner very seriously and have made a number of the improvements identified during the inquest.
“We are carefully reviewing the learning identified to ensure that we do everything we can to prevent this from happening to another family.”
Childbirth complications explained
CHILDBIRTH complications can affect the mother, baby, or both, and can occur during labour and delivery, or after pregnancy.
Labour and delivery complications include:
Umbilical cord problems: The cord gets caught around the baby’s neck, arm, or leg.
Abnormal baby position: The baby is in a breech position, or the shoulder gets caught on the mother’s pubic bone.
Perinatal asphyxia: The baby doesn’t get enough oxygen.
Water breaking early: The amniotic fluid breaks before labour is complete.
Excessive bleeding: Postpartum haemorrhage is excessive bleeding after delivery.
Uterine rupture: A rare complication that can occur during labour.