Couple demand action after tot’s death

LITTLE fighter...Madison Wood and mum Kelly Gibson.

A DISTRAUGHT couple are considering legal action against the Royal Oldham Hospital after losing their baby to a rare infection which attacks the heart.

Tiny Lola Wood was only seven days old when she died — but her twin sister Madison was saved at Booth Hall after being struck down by the same condition.

But at an inquest yesterday, Oldham coroner Simon Nelson recorded a verdict of natural causes.

He said there was no evidence of gross failure to provide medical intervention.

Now parents Kelly Gibson (27) and Colin Wood (29), of Welbeck Avenue, Chadderton, are to make a formal complaint to the hospital and take legal advice after hitting out at the standard of care and the state of the maternity unit.

Miss Gibson said: “There was a 100 per cent difference in care between the two hospitals.

“Booth Hall Hospital was faced with the same problem with Madison but doctors were calmer and knew what to do.

“I’m not saying that Lola would have been saved but she would have had a better chance. We want to save anyone else going through this.”

Mr Wood said: “I won’t let it lie. If they had listened to us and put Lola on a heart monitor it might have been different.

“I know it won’t bring her back but we just want justice for Lola. I would never go back to the Royal Oldham.”

The birth was induced on October 2, 2008, with Lola weighing 5lb 15oz and Madison, born by Caesarean section, weighing 6lb 11oz.

They appeared well and went home but were re-admitted five days later after appearing jaundiced.

Miss Gibson says Lola deteriorated, was lethargic, floppy, very pale, had cold feet, irregular breathing and wasn’t feeding.

She claims staff dismissed her concerns but later learned from a hospital leaflet that they were classic signs of cardiac problems.

“It scares me that children can be showing these underlying problems and the hospital does nothing,” she said. “Why were alarm bells not ringing?”

Lola was eventually fitted with a nasal gastric tube but a minute later she stopped breathing.

Miss Gibson says doctors panicked and attempts to resuscitate the baby were unsuccessful.

The couple asked for Madison to be tested but say she was merely checked with a stethoscope before they were sent home.

Three days later Madison was rushed to Booth Hall Hospital with the same symptoms but was stabilised, put on a heart machine and then taken to Pendlebury Children’s Hospital for scans which showed she had a severely dilated heart.

She was transferred to a specialist cardiac hospital in Leicester where she was placed on a machine that supported her heart for two weeks. After a six-month hospital stay, regular check-ups and medication she’s progressing well.

Pathologist Dr Gauri Batra said Lola died from viral myocarditis, a rare infection that attacks the heart.

Dr Suhera Ahmad, a consultant paediatrician at the Royal Oldham, said it was a very rare infection he had not come across before and he was not aware of any specific treatment for it.

He said: “We did our best. It was very unfortunate. I couldn’t have done anything else.”

Mr Nelson said Lola’s illness progressed rapidly and he did not believe that even if there had been a specific diagnosis that her death would have been averted.