Mother’s pain over botched delivery of tragic baby

A BABY died 12 hours after a botched delivery in which his skull was crushed, an inquest has heard.

Evan Tuite’s mother, Fiona, told the coroner that what should have been the happiest day of her life turned into the worst.

The inquest heard the baby was due on June 1, 2012, and that Ms Tuite was induced at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co. Louth, on June 13. After an 11-hour labour, it was decided to use a forceps to deliver the child. Between 6.16am and 6.29am, the doctor used a forceps, then the vacuum cup, and then the forceps again.

Evan was born at 6.29am and taken to the special-care unit. At 10.30am he had to be resuscitated. The inquest heard he died that evening, in his mother’s arms, some 12 hours after birth. The jury yesterday heard there were six attempts made using either a forceps or vacuum to deliver the baby. Sara Antoniotti BL, for the family, said there were six different pulls on the baby’s cranium.

Last year, the High Court heard baby Evan suffered a fractured skull and a significant brain injury. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital was forced to apologise to the family for the ‘deficit in care’ shown to Evan.

Yesterday the inquest heard the cause of death was severe external and internal cranial and brain injury and haemorrhage due to a difficult instrumental delivery.

Returning the verdict of medical misadventure, coroner Ronan Maguire expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the parents.

Afterwards, Ms Tuite, from Drogheda, said the inquest confirmed what she and the baby’s father, Ivan Murphy, already knew.

She said she had a ‘textbook pregnancy’ and that the couple had everything ready for their son.

‘The nursery was ready, the clothes were ready,’ she said.

Asked how she would remember her son, she said: ‘I would rather him to be with me, not to be remembered. I’d like him to be here.’