A newborn baby trapped in the breech position died after NHS staff deemed the mother ‘low risk’ and sent her home, an inquiry heard.
Mirabelle Bosch died just 12 hours after being born at Wishaw General Hospital, Lanarkshire, Scotland after a decision to withdraw her life support.
According to reports, a fatal accident inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court found that Mirabelle’s mother, Rozelle Bosch was sent home from hospital on June 30 and told to monitor her conditions after her waters broke.
But although Mrs. Bosch’s baby was in the breech position at 30 weeks, which meant the baby was lying bottom-down instead of head down, and can often cause birth complications, no managed delivery plan was created for her due date.
This was because at 38 weeks, the baby was perceived to have turned herself around, so she had her head down, ready for labour, reports say.
On June 30, Rozelle’s husband Eckhardt called an ambulance, but the paramedics were unable to turn the baby around when directed over the phone, and no hospital staff could attend the home.
On July 1, Rozelle contacted her midwife to ask for more information about ‘active labour’. The midwife spoke to her on the phone, but advised that the guidance says that women should stay at home after their waters broke, until ‘active labour’ began with regular contractions.
An induction was booked for 9am on July 2, but the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines recommend induction ‘approximately 24 hours after the rupture of a membrane’.
Rozelle’s husband called an ambulance at 10.48pm, on July 1 to say his wife was in labour and the baby’s head was coming out. When the paramedics arrived at 10.59pm, Rozelle was in a bedroom on her knees, and paramedics noted that ‘the baby was pink’. Twenty minutes later they made a call to ask if a midwife or doctor could be sent to help.
But paramedics were reportedly told by the control room that all they could do is send more ambulance crew to the address. St John’s Hospital in Livingston was contacted, and the paramedics were given further advice on procedures to ‘aid delivery’, which was unsuccessful.
When the second ambulance crew arrived, five attempts were made to contact the maternity triage at Wishaw General Hospital, before a call finally connected at 11.40pm.
At 11.50pm, a consultant obstetrician was requested to help because the baby’s shoulders had been delivered but not her head. The doctor recommended using the Mauriceau-Smellie-Veit manoeuvre (MSV) – which is a technique used to deliver babies in the breech position to safely, by but Mrs. Bosch was in too much pain for this to be carried out.
After further unsuccessful attempts, the doctor recommended that Mrs. Bosch was taken to hospital, but it has been reported that Dr Malcolm privately advised medics that the baby was unlikely to survive.
Mrs. Bosch arrived at hospital at 12.20am on July 2, and Mirabelle was delivered and taken to the resuscitation unit as she showed ‘no signs on life’. At 2am the couple were told Mirabelle was ‘critically ill’, notes say she did not show any signs of ‘respiratory effort’, and did not open her eyes.
At 12.15pm, Mirabelle’s ventilator was switched off, while Mrs. Bosch held her in her arms.
A post-mortem examination report by pathologist Dr Dawn Penman, at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, concluded:
“It was likely that the management plan for labour and the subsequent outcome would have been different, had the breech presentation been recognised prior to the onset of labour.
“There was a long delay between the arrival of paramedics to Rozelle’s home and transfer to hospital … It is possible that delivery in hospital would have resulted in a different outcome for this case.
“It is my view that the death has been the result of prolonged second stage at home with failure to deliver the head for a protracted period on the background of a foetus who had been well up to that point.”
NHS Lanarkshire made eight recommendations at a Significant Adverse Health Review, of which six have been implemented, and Scottish Ambulance Service recommended three changes after a similar review.
The inquiry will also examine the deaths of two other newborns in NHS Lanarkshire hospitals – Ellie McCormick who died at the same hospital at five hours old on March 5 2019; and Leo Lamont, who died at two hours old in University Hospital, Monklands, on February 15 2019.
Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar said:
“The purpose of this inquiry is not to apportion blame. It is to establish the circumstances of the deaths of Mirabelle, Ellie and Leo and to consider what steps, if any, might be taken to prevent other children dying in similar circumstances.
“I wish to assure each of the parties present and represented here that if there are lessons to be learned, those will be identified.”
The inquiry continues.
What is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence is when a patient has received the incorrect or careless treatment by a medical professional, resulting in avoidable harm or the deterioration of a patient’s condition.
By law, medical professionals have a duty of care to their patients, which means doctors have the legal obligation to provide the appropriate treatment. But if this standard is not met, it may contribute to medical negligence.
Someone who has been harmed by sub-standard care can sue the healthcare provider or organisation for medical negligence. If your claim is successful, you may win compensation for the harm experienced.
Examples of Medical Negligence
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Missed diagnosis of a medical condition
- Failure to monitor, test or refer a patient
- Error during procedure
- Inadequate warning of risks
- Birthing injuries
How to claim for Medical Negligence
If you believe you have been affected by medical negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. To prove medical negligence, you must be able to show that the defendant breached their duty of care, the claimant was harmed, and the breach of duty of care caused this harm.
Medical negligence claims can also be made on behalf of a close relative (if you are the next of kin) of someone who has died because of the negligent treatment, or who can’t take legal action themselves, for example for someone who may have dementia.
How long does a Medical Negligence claim take?
Each medical negligence claim is different and the amount of time taken to complete the claim can vary but most taken around 12-18 months to conclude.
However, the Limitation Act 1980, sets the time limit for medical negligence claims at three years from the date that you suffered unnecessary harm, or from the date that the suffering was connected to negligence. This means you have three years from the date of knowledge of the negligence, to make a claim.
However, if a person who has been affected by medical negligence is aged under 18 years at the time, the three-year limit starts on their 18th birthday. If a person has had a mental illness, they have three years from the time of their recovery from this mental illness to make a claim.
How much Medical Negligence compensation
The amount of compensation awarded varies based on the harm and circumstances experienced. Compensation is awarded in two forms of damages:
- General damages – An award of money for the pain and suffering you have endured as a result of the negligence.
- Special damages – An award of money for all of your out of pocket expenses such as travel expenses, medication costs, loss of earnings, treatment costs both past and future. This list is not exhaustive and is very case-specific.
Birth Injury Solicitor
Birthing injuries are another type of medical negligence which patients can suffer. Every mother is entitled to a good standard of antenatal care and your midwife, nurse or Doctor should detect any signs which could lead to a birth injury.
Some main causes of maternity injuries include:
- Failure to identify the progression of labour
- Mismanagement of maternal conditions such as high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia
- Decisions about the mode and timing of delivery e.g. should a c-section have been brought forward
- Mismanagement of infection e.g. Group B Strep
- Surgical errors
- Retained Placenta, sometimes resulting in infection.
If you believe you have been a victim of medical negligence, contact Oakwood Scotland Solicitors today.
Further reading
For information about clinical negligence, check out our resource.
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