Courts

Doctors unsure about reason for baby’s ‘sudden and unexpected’ death, inquest told

Infant did not have ‘the resilience to survive the process of labour’, one doctor tells hearing

The inquest heard that medical staff at the Rotunda Hospital had had no appreciation at the time that the baby was so sick and took early test results to be 'reassuring'. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Seán McCárthaigh
Mon Oct 10 2022 - 14:56

An inquest has heard there was no obvious explanation for the “sudden and unexpected” death of a baby girl one day after her birth at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin three years ago.

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard the baby’s mother, Mary Corcoran from Loughbarn, Skerries, Co Dublin had experienced a normal pregnancy with what was her first child and was eight days over term when she presented in labour at the hospital on May 8th, 2019.

The baby’s father, David Hagan, said the couple were told by medical staff that their daughter, Cora, had to be transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit because no heartbeat had been detected at birth but were advised the following day that they “could not do anything”.

A specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology, Andrew Downey, said there had been concern about a slowing of the fetal heartbeat shortly after Ms Corcoran was admitted to the Rotunda but medical staff had been reassured by fetal blood tests although close monitoring of the patient was still advised.

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Dr Downey said Ms Corcoran was instructed to commence active pushing and a short time later a decision was taken for the baby to be delivered using a forceps.

Baby Cora Corcoran was born at 5.44pm on May 8th, 2020 but died the following morning at 7.30am after a decision was taken to switch life-support equipment off.

In a statement, a midwife, Emily Campion, said she noticed baby Cora had a poor colour after she was delivered and did not appear to be breathing.

Another midwife, Jackie Murrin, said she detected “a very faint slow heartbeat” in the baby girl.

Another consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Maeve Eogan, said medical staff had no appreciation at the time that the baby was so sick and noted that fetal blood tests taken shortly before baby Cora was born had been “reassuring.”

Dr Eogan said she was unsure if any other interventions at any stage could have changed the outcome.

Asked by the coroner, Aisling Gannon, if there was any explanation for the baby’s sudden death, Dr Eogan replied: “The baby did not have the resilience to survive the process of labour that we would have expected.”

She confirmed that there had been no concerns about the health of the baby during Ms Corcoran’s pregnancy and that her death was “unanticipated.”

A pathologist who carried out a post-mortem on the baby’s body, Noel McEntagart, said she had died from a lack of a supply of blood and oxygen to the brain.

Dr McEntagart said baby Cora was a normal size baby with no congenital defects and he had no exact explanation for what happened.

In response to questions from the coroner, Dr McEntagart said he believed the baby had suffered some acute event in the hour or hours before her birth.

On the balance of probabilities, the pathologist said it was possible that it was linked to either a compression of the umbilical cord or a flattening of the maternal surface of the placenta.

Based on the evidence, Dr Gannon returned a verdict of death due to natural causes.

The coroner remarked that nobody could have known about what happened or taken measures to respond to it.

Dr Karen Flood, who oversaw an internal review by the Rotunda of the circumstances of baby Cora’s death, said a number of recommendations had subsequently been implemented including staff education about complex cases and the provision of ECG monitors in every delivery room.

At the conclusion of the inquest, Ms Corcoran thanked medical staff at the Rotunda for the sympathy and condolences offered to her family.

Fighting back tears she added: “David and me get to get on and live our lives but Cora did not get that opportunity.”

Mr Hagan said they really appreciated the help the maternity hospital had provided to the couple with “subsequent births”.

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