Hospital probe over baby death

Date published: 05 November 2009

A DEVASTATED couple are taking legal action after their baby was born lifeless following alleged hospital blunders.

An inquest at Oldham Magistrates’ Court yesterday heard how staff at the Royal Oldham Hospital failed to pick-up signs that little Olivia Last was distressed during a long labour.

The hospital has apologised for shortcomings in midwifery care but shattered parents John and Tracy Last, of Woodlea, Chadderton, are suing for clinical negligence to prevent it happening again.

The couple were desperate to have children and had been having fertility treatment for three years, so were thrilled when Mrs Last fell pregnant.

Everything seemed normal when Mrs Last went into labour on October 19, 2007. But a midwife misread a monitor used to record the baby’s heart rate — misinterpreting the reading as being “reassuring” when it was “non-reassuring” on repeated occasions. A second midwife taking over the shift failed to alert doctors to the reading while Dr Oybek Rustamov failed to spot the problems when he checked an hour before the birth.

Mrs Last said: “Everyone seemed very panicked. When she was born she was snatched away from me and we heard and saw them try to resuscitate her. After some time, attempts stopped and we were told she had died.”

A post-mortem showed the cause of death was a lack of oxygen. A possible cause was that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.

The couple’s solicitor, Jenny Urwin, from Manchester firm Pannone, said: “This is a desperately sad case where it would appear that had the midwife interpreted the reading correctly, Mrs Last would have had a Caesarean section sooner and Olivia’s tragic death would probably have been avoided.”

Dr Rustamov said the ward was very busy. He was dealing with an emergency and other high-priority cases but would have been expected to have been called by a midwife.

He said the machines are difficult to interpret but if he had been alerted several hours earlier he would have carried out a blood test and then an emergency delivery and the baby could have possibly survived.

Head of midwifery at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Dr Catherine Trinick, said the machine’s readings should have given cause for concern and been acted upon.

A full investigation had been held, numerous lessons learned and an action plan put in place. The Trust accepted some of the midwifery care fell below the standard expected.

She said she hoped the family and coroner were reassured by the steps taken and that standards have improved.

Coroner Simon Nelson said it was a rare and tragic case that would have had a profound effect on everyone