They said our son was stillborn –but we heard him cry
Anguish of former Premier League star, who claims...
A FORMER England footballer has accused a top private hospital of trying to avoid an inquest into the death of his son by telling him the baby was stillborn.
Hull City midfielder Jake Livermore and his girlfriend Danielle Del-Giudice claim staff at The Portland Hospital in London insisted Jake Junior was not born alive – even though the couple are adamant they heard him cry.
The parents refused to believe he was stillborn and pushed for an inquest. A coroner subsequently ruled the boy was born alive ‘in very poor condition’ and pronounced dead around half an hour later.
Today the Mail on Sunday launches a campaign to make it a legal requirement for all stillbirths to be referred to the coroner. Currently, hospitals can investigate stillbirths themselves. Last week, this newspaper told how mother Caroline Tully was fighting for the change, named Clara’s Law after her daughter, for whom she faced a similar struggle to secure an inquest.
Livermore, 25, and Miss Del-Giudice, 30, backed the campaign, saying: ‘If it goes on to save just one life, it will be well worth it.’ The couple, who lost their baby in May 2014, said their pleas that Miss Del-Giudice be given a caesarean early were ignored. Obstetrician Eleni Mavrides also allegedly failed to review the baby for 35 minutes, despite concerns about his heart.
Miss Del-Giudice finally had a caesarean but the baby died from lack of oxygen and a brain haemorrhage. Livermore, who has also played for Tottenham Hotspur, said: ‘I heard him cry faintly and said to Danielle, “Everything’s going to be OK.”’
But they were told the child was born dead and that the cry was an involuntary ‘spinal gasp’. The case was referred to the coroner, who agreed no action was required. But after the couple objected an inquest took place, ruling that a timely caesarean could have saved the baby.
Livermore was rapped by the FA for taking cocaine in the aftermath of the tragedy, but spared a ban.
The couple’s solicitor Lauren Hurney, of Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘If this family had not been so strong, I don’t think this case would have come to inquest.’ She said Ms Mavrides accepted primary liability for the death. No case was brought against the hospital, and a spokesman said it ‘co-operated fully with the coroner’s inquiry’.
The Medical Defence Union, for Ms Mavrides, said she couldn’t comment due to patient confidentiality.