Ambulance should have been called 90 minutes before baby delivered in ‘high-risk’ home birth, inquest hears

A midwife who broke down in tears at the inquest of a baby who was delivered “blue and floppy” said an ambulance should have been called almost an hour-and-a-half before the birth.

Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died on 26 October 2022 following complications during a “high-risk” home birth that her mother said she was encouraged to have.

Barnet Coroner’s Court had previously heard Poppy’s mother Gemma Lomas, from Enfield, north London, was not made aware of the risks involved with delivering naturally in her home, having already delivered her first daughter, Willow, by caesarean in 2018.

Midwife Sasha Field, who was present at Poppy’s birth, said in her written statement, which was read out to the inquest by senior coroner Andrew Walker, that an ambulance should have been called around 90 minutes before Poppy was born when she heard the baby’s heart rate slow down after a contraction, as a report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch had found.

In fact, midwives told Jason Lomas, Poppy’s father, to call an ambulance at around 10.37pm, two minutes after she was born, by which time it was clear she was showing no signs of life, Ms Field said in her statement.

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Source: The Independent (21 April 2026)