Baby boy died from oxygen starvation after midwives failed to notice he had been born under the bed sheets

A baby died after his brain was starved of oxygen when midwives failed to notice he had been born under his mother’s bed sheets.

Maninder Singh was overlooked because his mother Geeta had been given a double-strength epidural and could not feel anything below her waist. 

He was found ‘looking blue’ eight hours after she was induced. 

Geeta Singh with her baby Maninder, who was born on October 23rd, 2008 at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester. He died of a catastrophic brain injury after staff failed to notice he had been born under bed sheets

Kamaljeet and Geeta Singh. A coroner recorded a narrative verdict in which he highlighted eight specific failings which led to their baby’s death

The boy suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the delay and died six months later.

Mother Geeta, 32, died the following year from complications giving birth to her second child.

Yesterday hospital bosses agreed to pay a five-figure out-of-court settlement after admitting responsibility for the boy’s death in May 2009.

Last night his father Kamaljeet, 35, criticised the hospital which repeatedly refused to admit liability and apologise before  accepting they were at fault in April. 

This has been an extremely difficult four years for my family,’ he said.

‘My wife died never knowing what happened (or) that anyone was sorry for our loss. 

‘We lost a much loved son under horrific circumstances.

‘We fought so hard and waited so long to receive an apology and an admission that more could have been done to save him.

‘No amount of money could ever replace what we have lost but we are now finally in a position to move forward with our lives. We feel that in some small way justice has been done.’ 

Mrs Singh, who suffered from diabetes, anaemia and a range of other health problems during her pregnancy, was flagged as a ‘high risk’ case when she was admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester in October 2008.

 

Although she was 34 weeks pregnant, doctors decided to induce the baby after becoming concerned his growth had slowed.

An inquest into Maninder’s death, in April, was told that Mrs Singh was given an epidural several hours into her labour for the pain, but a consultant anaesthetist agreed to first perform a ‘spinal block’ so she would sit still enough to have the epidural needle inserted.

This amounted to a double dose of pain relief, the coroner was told.

But midwives failed to regularly monitor Mrs Singh and when they went to attach a foetal scalp electrode they pulled back the bed covers and discovered Maninder had been born.

Mrs Singh’s sister Rekha  told the inquest: ‘When I looked round at the bed the cord was stretched down and the baby was between her legs and was blue.’ 

Although Maninder was born with some medical problems, the delay in resuscitation caused avoidable brain damage. 

An internal investigation concluded that staff at St Mary’s Hospital failed to communicate effectively during handovers, failed to fully acknowledge and respond to Mrs Singh’s medical needs and failed to properly and regularly assess the progress of her labour. 

Mr Singh has now reached an out-of-court settlement

Coroner Nigel Meadows delivered a narrative verdict and listed eight failings by the hospital, including a failure to recognise the baby was in distress, delay in summoning a senior doctor and a failure to effectively monitor and examine Mrs Singh properly.

Yesterday, Mr Singh’s solicitor, Sharon Williams, said it was unacceptable that the hospital had waited four years before admitting they were to blame.

Kathryn Murphy, of St Mary’s Hospital said: ‘We have recognised there were failings surrounding the care of Maninder Singh and accept that this fell below the level we normally provide.’

Source Mail Online