Lawyer calls for finding of neglect over baby death at Princess Royal Hospital
Lawyers representing the family of a baby who died less that 12 hours after being born at the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, have urged a coroner to consider a finding of neglect over the monitoring of her heartbeat during labour.
Sophie Beesley, representing Poppy Mary Isabella Russell's parents, Katherine and Neil, from Rodington, asked Shropshire Coroner, John Ellery at her inquest to give a narrative conclusion.
"I would ask you to consider a finding of neglect in that there was no competent heart monitoring of a baby on a labour ward for over an hour," she said.
At the last day of the three day hearing Mr Ellery said on Wednesday that he would not be coming to an immediate conclusion but would be giving his decision in writing by October 20.
At Wednesday's hearing in Shrewsbury he was told that the maternity unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford was particularly busy on the night that Poppy was born.
She died on April 11, 11 hours and 50 minutes after being delivered by emergency caesarian section. Mrs Russell had gone into hospital on April 10 to have the baby induced after the baby went past her term.
Night unit co-ordinator and midwife, Victoria Nolan, said in normal circumstances she would have introduce herself to the mother-to-be in the unit before being called to help as the emergency unfolding, but said this had not happened because the unit was so busy.
"It was a particularly busy shift - there were more patients than staff."
She said that there had been changes to staffing levels.
"Staffing is now much better and we have two co-ordinators on a night shift. We also have more robust escalation methods to call in extra support. Midwives also have more empowerment to speak out and escalate matters."
The changes were also outlined by Kim Willians, the Head of Midwifery at the Princess Royal Hospital.
She said that since both the Ockenden review into maternity services at the Shropshire and Telford Hospital Trust there had been huge changes.
Rather than previous, online training in foetal heart monitoring, midwives had to undergo full day training schemes.
The department now had two foetal heart experts leading training and more was known about the physiology and importance of heart monitoring during labour, particularly after every contraction.
"Since this incident there have been no foetal monitoring concerns identified," she said.
During labour Poppy suffered hypoxic-ischemic damage, the brain not receiving enough oxygen or blood flow, the most likely cause being the compression and blocking of the umbilical cord.
Expert witness, Kevin Ives, told the coroner that babies could survive being hypoxic for at least an hour and if she had been delivered earlier - had irregularities been picked up with monitoring, she would have survived.
