Footballer Livermore sues medic over death of his newborn baby

HULL CITY footballer Jake Livermore and his girlfriend are suing a medic at a leading private hospital over the “devastating” death of their newborn son shortly after his birth.

Livermore and Danielle DelGiudice say their son Jake Junior died after a ‘catalogue of errors’ at London’s Portland Hospital which led to him suffering injuries including a brain haemorrhage and skull fractures.

The couple, who lost their baby in May 2014, said their pleas that Miss Del-Giudice be given a cae- sarean early were ignored. Obstetrician Eleni Mavrides also allegedly failed to review the baby for 35 minutes, despite concerns about his heart.

After instructing law firm Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care provided by Miss Mavrides, they have now launched a civil medical negligence claim against her and say her lawyers have admitted liability.

The footballer, 25, was censured by the Football Association for taking cocaine in the aftermath of the tragedy, but spared a ban.

According to their lawyers at Irwin Mitchell, Miss Del-Giudice, 30, was admitted to hospital on May 18, 2014, and advised by Miss Mavrides that she should have a normal delivery and only have a C-section if there were any complications during her labour.

It is alleged that her labour was managed appropriately until 10.30pm when the baby’s heartbeat became irregular, and that a review 40 minutes later failed to consider blood sampling to decide if it was safe to continue as planned or whether it would be more appropriate to deliver by C-section.

Irwin Mitchell say that despite the baby’s irregular heartbeat a decision was made to continue but after two failed attempts to deliver the baby using forceps the C-section was carried out. Jake Junior was born minutes later at 1am but was in a poor condition and unresponsive. He died 39 minutes later after several resuscitation attempts.

An inquest later concluded that had Jake Junior been delivered earlier at or before 11.30pm by emergency caesarean the tragedy would have been avoided.

Miss Del-Giudice said: “Words cannot explain what we have been through in losing a perfectly healthy child because of mistakes made by medical staff during the birth.

“Knowing that people who I trusted to care for me and my baby and to ensure that we were safe throughout my labour did not pick up the warning signs that Jake Junior was in distress is hard for me to accept.”

Lauren Hurney, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who represents the family, said: “This is a heartbreaking case that had devastating consequences for a young couple very much looking for- ward to welcoming home their first child. We see cases every day from all across the country where mistakes made during births have had devastating consequences and it is crucial that lessons are learned from these to improve care in future.”

A hospital spokesman said: “We have carefully noted the recommendations made during the inquest. Our policies, processes and training have been fully reviewed and we have taken appropriate action where recommended.”

The Medical Defence Union, for Ms Mavrides, said she could not comment owing to patient confidentiality.

This case had devastating consequences for a young couple. Lauren Hurney, Irwin Mitchell