A newborn baby tragically died after his delivery was delayed because two other mothers were given priority, an inquest heard.
Jay Whewell lost her son Freddie after he suffered from oxygen deprivation and skull fractures as his delivery in the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital maternity unit was delayed.
According to reports, Mrs. Whewell and two other women needed prompt medical intervention during their labors but only one operating theater was available at that time.
An evaluation determined that Mrs. Whewell’s unborn son only had a ‘suspicion of an abnormal’ heartbeat and had not yet ‘entered the birthing canal.’
Because of that, doctors decided her delivery was the least urgent and the other two mothers were given priority.
When it was Mrs. Whewell’s turn to go into the birthing theater, Freddie already had ‘swelling of the scalp’ and was ‘facing the wrong way.’
A c-section was performed and Freddie was finally delivered. He was then transferred to Bristol Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where he died from his injuries.
A post-mortem examination concluded that he passed away from traumatic and hypoxic injury to his brain.
The results of the exam also noted the effects on baby Freddie’s organs due to lack of oxygen.
The doctor who delivered the baby told the inquest that if the care team had gotten the mother into the theater 20 minutes earlier, “we might not be in this situation.”
But the two other mothers also needed medical intervention but only one theater was available.
“We needed to prioritize the three cases with rapidly changing clinical scenarios and this resulted in baby Freddie being categorized as the least serious of the three urgent cases,” Dr. Maggie Arlidge said.
“The urgency of the situation was at the forefront of people’s minds. Most procedures of this nature do not have this fatal outcome.”
Dr. Arlidge performed a c-section on one of the mothers before going to Mrs. Whewell.
But before the mother was taken into the operating unit, she was given oxytocin, a synthetic version of a hormone that speeds up the process of childbirth.
“I administered a small dose of oxytocin, which seemed to have an adverse effect on baby Freddie,” the doctor said.
“With hindsight I wish I hadn’t offered the drug, but it was administered because of the circumstances we found ourselves in.”
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