Sadly, this wasn’t the case for Claire Johnson, whose son Ethan passed away shortly after he was born at Milton Keynes Hospital in January.
An inquest into the tot’s death heard how he was born amid ‘chaotic’ scenes at the hospital, four days after his mother began experiencing contractions.
Representation for Ms Johnson recalled how a series of errors by various members of medical staff contributed to a “lost opportunity” to deliver and treat Ethan early.
Ethan died from a combination of symptoms after his faeces was found in his mother’s waters before his birth. The inquest heard that while a scan showed up abnormalities, there were problems contacting the midwife and senior staff, and another emergency delivery to the unit took precedence ahead of Ms Johnson.
The day after little Ethan was delivered, his cause of death was recorded as perinatal asphyxia and meconium aspiration.
Speaking at the inquest this week, coroner Thomas Osborne said: “The delay…resulted in a lost opportunity to deliver him earlier and render further medical treatment.”
In a personal appeal, Ms Johnson added: “If there were mistakes made, then they need to be honest about that. I don’t want more babies to die.”
While hospital staff previously stated that Ethan’s death was “unavoidable”, director Ed Neale said that changes had been put in place to ensure that similar incidents should never happen again.
