Baby was ‘stable’ just before collapse, trial hears

A NURSE told the Lucy Letby trial yesterday of her surprise after a baby who was apparently well when she went on a break suddenly became very poorly half an hour later.

Caroline Oakley said Baby D was doing so well on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital that she was about to be given her first feed of expressed milk from her mother.

But at 1.30am on September 22, 2015, Mrs Oakley was called back from her break by Letby and another nurse on duty.

Giving evidence at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, Mrs Oakley recalled: ‘I was like, “What are you calling me back for?”

‘I’d only been gone half an hour and had been happy with her before I left.’

She found that the previously ‘ stable’ infant had suddenly desaturated, lost colour and was ‘bubbly’ with saliva coming from her mouth. There were also discolorations to her trunk, legs, arms and chin.

‘It was unusual and the rash struck me,’ said Mrs Oakley. ‘I hadn’t seen that rash before on any neo-natal baby I’ve looked after over 20 years. I remember it as a deep red-brown – different than mottling, different than what I’d seen before.’ Baby D responded to treatment very quickly and her notes indicated she was back ‘ to normal parameters’ within half an hour. But at 3.45am Baby D suffered a more serious collapse and a doctor pronounced her dead at 4.25am. She was 36 hours old. Letby is accused of murdering Baby D by injecting air into her bloodstream. She was the fourth baby attacked and the third child killed by Letby in the space of a fortnight, it is claimed. The 32-year-old, originally from Hereford, denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further ten. The trial resumes on Monday.