Negligence in hospital during birth led to stillborn baby
- May 5, 2016
- EmmaArnold
A number of failings at Pontefract Hospital and paramedics led to the death of a baby boy last year.
The hospital has admitted liability and apologised for the death of baby Theo after the equipment to monitor his heartbeat was broken and paramedics managed to get lost.
Sam Reid, Theo's mother, had a normal pregnancy but towards the end she started to notice things had gone wrong.
The midwife-led unit at the hospital does not have an emergency department and so the midwife phoned paramedics to transfer Ms Reid to emergency care.
However, she said the phone used was not properly connected and the ambulance was based 14 miles away.
Not only that, but Ms Reid told how the paramedics got lost in the hospital and she was given the wrong drugs at the wrong time.
Hannah Bottomley, clinical negligence solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
This is a tragic case for a family who lost their son, Theo. It is always heart-breaking to read about any infant death and stillbirth but it also harder to come to terms with when the death has been caused due to negligence on the part of the medical profession such as here.
My deepest condolences go out to Theo’s family and I hope that by obtaining an admission of negligence through bringing a clinical negligence claim against the hospital that they are finally able to achieve some form of closure. From my experience I often find that the admission and recognition of wrong doing is all a family a really looking for in these circumstances, that and a chance to try and ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again to another family.