A newborn baby and his mother tragically lost their lives during a breastfeeding session after the mom suffered a seizure.
36-year-old Marie Downey was a loving mother-of-three from Ireland who was found lifeless on top of her newborn baby in her Cork University Maternity Hospital room.
According to the reports, the mother fell from the bed and collapsed on top of her baby boy, Darragh, after suffering a seizure while breastfeeding her son. Though the mother and her son were later discovered by the staff, they were too far gone to be saved.
As the inquest heard, baby Darragh died of acute respiratory failure under the weight of his mother after the two fell from the bed.
Providing additional evidence, Dr. Keelin O’Donoghue, Downey’s consultant obstetrician, revealed that the newborn was “normal, well grown, and well-nourished.” The doctor also insisted his life could have been saved if the staff saw what had happened within the first few minutes after the mother suffered a seizure.
After the verdict of medical misadventure, Marie’s grieving husband, Kieran Downey, spoke out and revealed he has lost all faith in the system after the tragedy at the hospital.
“There doesn’t even seem like there is a system. It is chaotic from the get go. Everything that was discussed during the last three days proves the system [doesn’t work]. There doesn’t even seem like there is a system,” Mr. Downey said, CorkBeo reported.
“Yes [it could happen again]. It happened to Marie. I have no faith in the systems as they are and based on what we have heard it takes a long long time for anything to be implemented. The HSE is a big organization but there is people working there.
“The blame is often with the HSE — the letters. But people are responsible for making decisions and implementing them. And that is from the top all the way down.”
As the grieving father added, he will fight to improve maternal care as soon as he recovers from the ordeal and from the devastating results of the inquest.
“Marie and Darragh will never be forgotten. They will live in our hearts forever. They meant everything. I had never been so happy in my life on the day Darragh was born,” Mr. Downey added in a tribute to his wife.
“Marie was very loving and caring. An unbelievable mother to James, Sean and Darragh. Loved her parents Jim and Helen.”
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