Couple's grief after baby's loss

'MISSED OPPORTUNITIES' ARE HIGHLIGHTED BY CORONER'S REPORT

- CARL EVE

A COUPLE whose newborn baby died at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital a short while after being delivered have urged others to seek support, after a coroner recorded a series of "missed opportunities"

The birth of Giles Huw CooperHall was expected to be a moment of joy for Ruth Cooper-Hall and her wife, Allison, but a report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) exposed how inexperienced and over-stretched staff failed to carry out proper checks, recognise there was an emergency, or seek help from senior doctors until it was too late.

The report play a central part of the inquest into the death of Giles on October 28, 2021.

During the inquest, at Plymouth Coroner's Court last week, Nicola Pusey, from the HSIB, read out 18 key findings of the report as well as five safety recommendations which flowed from the investigation into the circumstances leading up to baby Giles' death. She said University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust had not made any challenges to the findings and recommendations.

The HSIB found staff had not carried out proper checks as the unit was "busy", including failing to measure Mrs Cooper-Hall's bump a key indicator of healthy baby development. Midwives then missed two further opportunities to measure her bump at appointments in the next four days and a reduction in its growth was only noticed on the fifth day, when she came to hospital for an induction.

A senior doctor who looked at her notes - but did not see her in person - was also concerned the baby's heartbeat may have slowed, so advised his heart rate should be continuously monitored throughout labour. But this plan was not passed on to staff on the ground, with the investigation finding it was likely the "multiple tasks" being carried out by the responsible clinician had acted as a "source of distraction"