Baby died after being half-delivered during ‘chaotic’ birth at NHS trust

A baby boy was starved of oxygen and died after being left half-delivered for almost a quarter of an hour during a “chaotic” breech birth in an NHS maternity unit.

Midwives failed to recognise baby Theo Ellis was in the breech, or bottom first, position until his mother Laura Ellis, 34, was already in advanced labour at Surrey’s Frimley Park Hospital.

What followed was a catalogue of errors by midwives and doctors who failed to heed the emergency situation and raised the alarm too late.

At one stage a paediatrician was made to stand outside the room by midwives while junior staff struggled to deliver Theo alone. A senior obstetrician was in surgery and a miscommunication by midwives and an on-call consultant meant she did not arrive until Theo was already dead.

After his parents brought legal action against the NHS, Frimley Park Hospital has now admitted mistakes led to Theo’s death in April 2019.

Ms Ellis and husband James are angry their son was classed as being stillborn which meant a coroner was not allowed to investigate his care during an inquest. There have been repeated calls to change the law to ensure the deaths of babies like Theo are investigated.

His mother told The Independent: “I walked in with a healthy baby. I’d looked after him for nine months and they killed him in the process of giving birth. The hospital get to write that he was stillborn, which obviously is a huge benefit to them, because the coroner can’t get involved, which to me is just staggering."

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Source: The Independent, 9 March 2021