A MUM who was blamed for her newborn baby’s death has said she hopes “no other parents have to suffer in the way that we have”.
Sarah Robinson and Ryan Lock were left heartbroken by the loss of their newborn daughter Ida after she passed away just seven days after her birth.
Sarah Robinson and Ryan Locke’s ordeal began on November 9, 2019[/caption]
After the birth, Ida was swiftly moved to the neonatal intensive care unit at Royal Preston Hospital, while Sarah underwent placenta removal[/caption]
The expectant mum had been admitted to hospital when her waters broke and she was later transferred to another facility post-delivery.
But the couple from Morecambe, Lancashire were left “gobsmacked” when allegations arose suggesting Sarah had smoked during her pregnancy.
Lifelong non-smoker Sarah told an inquest at Lancashire Coroners Court a midwife had asked her if she was “sure” she had never smoked, because her placenta looked “gritty and fatty”.
The ordeal began on November 9, 2019 when they arrived at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary with Sarah in labour.
Sarah, already a mother to a boy named Ethan, had a worry-free pregnancy.
She’d planned a water birth for Ida, but in the middle of labour “all of a sudden the whole atmosphere changed”.
A doctor rushed in declaring “we need to get this baby out”, moments after midwives had been light-heartedly discussing the challenges of adjusting the bed, reports the Mirror.
Sarah and Ryan claim up until that point, they hasn’t received any updates about Ida’s decreasing heart rate.
After the birth, Ida was swiftly moved to the neonatal intensive care unit at Royal Preston Hospital, while Sarah underwent placenta removal.
Sarah told the coroner: “They said the placenta looked gritty and I heard one of them say ‘it looks like someone has smoked’.
“I was quite gobsmacked. I’ve never smoked in my life. I was just thinking ‘what’s happened?’.”
The couple say they were left in the dark as to what had gone wrong.
A pathologist told the hearing the infant had sustained changes to her brain consistent with her clinical history, which included foetal distress prior to delivery and her poor condition when born.
At the start of the scheduled 17-day inquest on Monday, Sarah and Ryan described how they had endured “a roller coaster of emotions” in a fight for answers from hospital bosses.
Sarah said there had been a “real sense of obstruction” from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT), which runs the hospital.
She compared an internal hospital report, which found no care delivery issues, to a later independent probe, which uncovered numerous failings, as “like night and day”.
After having her placenta removed, Sarah said she heard staff say her placenta looked gritty[/caption]
Ida’s post-mortem examination “demonstrated evidence of severe hypoxic-ischemic brain changes[/caption]
Paediatric and perinatal pathologist Dr Gemma Petts told the inquest that Ida’s post-mortem examination “demonstrated evidence of severe hypoxic-ischemic brain changes as well as milder changes in other organs that would also be in keeping with hypoxia-ischemia (a decrease in oxygen or blood flow)”.
She added: “These findings are consistent with the clinical history provided.”
Dr Petts agreed with senior coroner for Lancashire, Dr James Adeley that her findings were consistent with events around the time of delivery but she could not say they were due to those events.
UHMBT, which in December 2024 accepted failings in Ida’s delivery care, was the subject of a damning report in 2015 that found a “lethal mix” of problems at another of its maternity units at Furness General Hospital that led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and one mother between 2004 and 2013.
The Morecambe Bay investigation, chaired by Dr Bill Kirkup, uncovered a series of failures “at every level” from the unit to those responsible for regulating and monitoring the trust.
Dr Kirkup is due to give evidence at Ida’s inquest next week.
The hearing continues.
Childbirth complications explained
CHILDBIRTH complications can affect the mother, baby, or both, and can occur during labour and delivery, or after pregnancy.
Labour and delivery complications include:
Umbilical cord problems: The cord gets caught around the baby’s neck, arm, or leg.
Abnormal baby position: The baby is in a breech position, or the shoulder gets caught on the mother’s pubic bone.
Perinatal asphyxia: The baby doesn’t get enough oxygen.
Water breaking early: The amniotic fluid breaks before labour is complete.
Excessive bleeding: Postpartum haemorrhage is excessive bleeding after delivery.
Uterine rupture: A rare complication that can occur during labour.
