Last updated at 13:52, Friday, 20 April 2012

THE death of a baby might have been prevented if she was transferred to a specialist unit, a coroner has ruled.

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South and West Cumbria coroner Ian Smith issued a narrative verdict of the death of Amelia Jade Bower.

The infant died on the day that she was born, April 3 of last year, at Furness General Hospital.

At Barrow Town Hall yesterday, Mr Smith ruled the baby died as a consequence of ingesting meconium before death and wasn’t transferred to a specialist regional centre where advanced resuscitation techniques were available.

Meconium is the early faeces passed by a newborn soon after birth, but sometimes babies pass it while still inside the uterus – usually when under stress because their supply of blood and oxygen decreases.

In an hour-long summing up, Mr Smith said although a quicker transfer may not have saved Amelia’s life, it would have increased her chances of survival.

He said: “Had Amelia been transferred earlier, then her chances of survival would quite clearly have increased. We can’t say definitely she would have survived, we can’t say that ever, but her chances would have increased.”

Julia Hirstfield, a senior partner at legal firm Pannone LLP, issued a statement on behalf of the baby’s mother Kelly Hine, 21, and father Carl Bower, 21.

She said: “On behalf of the family I’ve been asked to say that they are satisfied with the outcome of the inquiry.

“They are satisfied with the inquest and what has happened over the past couple of days. The inquest has answered the questions they have, it has confirmed to them what they suspected at the time of Amelia’s birth and sadly her death, that the treatment wasn’t acceptable and if it had been different, importantly she would have survived.

“The apology that the trust has issued to them, both prior to the inquest and during the inquest, is very much welcomed by them but it doesn’t actually change the fact that Amelia has died.”

Mr Smith summed up the three-day inquest methodically, giving reference to evidence given by the baby’s mother and hospital staff.

The coroner identified issues with communication between staff, the baby’s transfer and the use of technology, but said that nobody had set out to cause harm to Amelia.

And Mr Smith said he had decided against issuing a Rule 43 letter, which is issued where the coroner believes action should be taken to prevent future deaths.

Such a letter was issued in the inquest of Joshua Titcombe, who died after contracting an infection at FGH in 2008, but Mr Smith said it was not appropriate in this case as the trust had “taken the things that they have needed to take onboard.”

He said: “The reason I am not writing one is that I have heard evidence from members of the trust that they have taken events extremely seriously.”

He concluded that Amelia had to be remembered as a “little person”, not in terms of the medical events that took her life.

First published at 13:24, Friday, 20 April 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk