Baby died after NHS trust failed to warn mother of ‘unsafe’ home birth, coroner finds

A mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found.

Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital.

An inquest into Poppy’s death at Barnet coroner’s court concluded that she probably died from a lack of oxygen reaching her brain in the 30 minutes before she was born.

The senior coroner Andrew Walker said the Royal Free London NHS foundation trust had agreed to support Poppy’s mother, Gemma Lomas, with an “unsafe home delivery that was against medical advice” and had failed to address “an accumulation of risk factors”.

After the inquest concluded on Thursday, Lomas said outside the court: “Nothing will ever bring her back, but hearing the truth today acknowledged means everything to us.

“We trusted the professionals who were guiding us,” she said, adding that she hoped lessons would be learned.

She previously told the inquest that midwives had actively encouraged her to have a vaginal birth at home, despite the risks because she had given birth to her first daughter, Willow, by caesarean section in 2018.

Guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says vaginal births after caesarean (VBACs) should take place in a “suitably staffed and equipped delivery suite” and “with resources available for immediate caesarean delivery”.

“I was encouraged to do what we did,” Lomas said. “I would have never made decisions to harm myself or my baby in any capacity.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 23 April 2026