OVER TWO DECADES OF TRAGEDY, HOW FAMILIES SUFFERED TERRIBLE LOSS
Pippa could still be alive today
PIPPA Griffiths could still be alive today if midwives had realised she had a deadly infection.
She was born at home in Shropshire in April 201 but died 31 hours later from a group B streptococcus infection.
A coroner ruled her death was avoidable and blamed a string of unforgiveable errors by midwives from Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust.
The inquest heard staff missed a crucial opportunity to save Pippa when her mother Kayleigh Griffiths rang the maternity unit with concerns about her baby’s feeding. A second chance was missed when her mother rang hours later to report bloody mucus, a sign of a serious bacterial infection. This could have been treated had Pippa been taken to hospital as a matter of urgency.
After she was born at 8.34am, a midwife was due to visit for a check up in the afternoon. However, the inquest heard she failed to turn up. Pippa developed a purple rash later that night and stopped breathing. After the inquest, Miss Griffiths said: ‘We’ve fought for her and fought for the truth and ultimately she could have been saved.’