Latest news with #BryonyRusso
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Baby died at just three days old after nurses 'laughed off' mum's plea for C-section which would have saved her life - and congratulated dad moments before admitting girl was 'born dead'
The 'devastated' father of a newborn baby who died after medics ignored multiple warning signs that she was in distress has revealed he shook the hands of staff before discovering the role they played in the tragedy. Dan Russo and his wife Bryony begged for a caesarean section to be carried out when they arrived at the maternity unit as they knew something was wrong. But staff 'laughed off' their concerns, despite red flags including encomium – a baby's faecal matter - in Mrs Russo's waters and scans showing an abnormal foetal heart rate. Baby Emmy was not breathing when she was finally born by emergency C-section 11 hours after the couple turned up at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex. She died in her father's arms three days later at the neonatal intensive care unit of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where she had been transferred for urgent care. Speaking after an inquest where the coroner said Emmy could have survived if she had been delivered earlier by caesarean section, Mr Russo said: 'We are completely broken by the loss of our beautiful baby girl, Emmy. 'She was our child, so loved, so wanted, and we will never understand where things went so tragically wrong. 'We did everything that we were told, we followed the advice we were given. But deep down we knew something wasn't right. We voiced our concerns again and again but we were dismissed.' He added: 'I shook the hands of the people that played a part in the death of my daughter. 'It wasn't that they weren't nice or the culture wasn't nice. It was that they didn't do their job properly.' Addressing staff directly, he said: 'If you'd done your job properly and noticed what everyone else had noticed, our daughter would be with us today.' Mrs Russo revealed she had lost her job of ten years as a recruitment manager following the shock bereavement, as the terrible grief left her unable to leave the house for four months. She said: 'You lose any direction of life. How I experience grief is a continuous reel of what happened.' They are considering civil action against The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust now that the inquest has finished. Mrs Russo, 34, was 41 weeks and three days into her pregnancy when she went into labour and travelled the short distance to the hospital from their home in Harlow with her husband at 10am on January 9 last year. She called in advance and told staff she had found what she believed was encomium in her underwear. 'When we knew encomium was starting to show, I felt that Emmy was too high up in my belly,' Mrs Russo said. 'I've never had a baby before, so it was just an instinct, a feeling of I couldn't see my baby naturally coming out that way.' She asked for a C-section but her husband, 36, who is director of a construction company, recalled: 'Bryony was laughed off and she was really upset by this.' But he kept his faith in the staff, adding: 'I kept telling Bryony 'Please trust them, they're professionals, so let them do their job.'' It was seven hours before Mrs Russo was seen by a doctor and given an ultrasound scan, despite a foetal heart rate monitor showing an abnormal trace from the moment it was attached. Essex assistant coroner Thea Wilson said there had been 'miscommunication between doctors and midwives' about the severity of the problems Emmy was facing. Both were 'falsely reassured' by incorrect assumptions about the others' intentions. Emmy was left with a severe brain injury due to oxygen starvation and had to be immediately resuscitated before she was moved to the neonatal unit and later to Addenbrooke's. Mr Russo described a disturbing scene where staff initially congratulated him on becoming a father before telling him his daughter had been 'born dead'. 'In one minute, I went through the emotions of thinking it was all okay, to confusion, to heartbreak,' he told the inquest. The couple suffered further anguish at Addenbrooke's, where they 'had to ask for earplugs' to avoid the 'distressing' sound of being 'surrounded by happy families with their babies'. They eventually decided to allow Emmy's life support to be switched off after an MRI scan showed the extent of her brain injuries. 'She would never know her own name or breathe on her own,' Mrs Russo told the hearing in Chelmsford. 'After trying to think for half an hour, we decided to let Emmy choose [her path] as she had been through enough. 'We held her for two hours without oxygen, she died in Dan's arms. 'It has had a huge impact on us as a family. The prospect of having more children has been shattered. We're consumed by fear that history will repeat itself.' A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, where a brain injury is caused to a baby around the time of birth due to oxygen deprivation, with placental dysfunction. During the inquest, midwife Megan Fletcher defended her decision not to escalate concerns to a senior doctor, explaining she had wanted to avoid 'invasive procedures'. But independent expert obstetrician Teresa Kelly said there had been sufficient evidence 'this baby wasn't coping with labour' and staff should have acted sooner. Ms Wilson yesterday said there were multiple missed opportunities for a 'holistic review' of Mrs Russo's condition and that of her unborn child as she recorded a narrative conclusion. Concluding Emmy's chances would have been dramatically improved if delivered even an hour earlier, she added: 'She would have been born in a better condition and, on the balance of probabilities, she would have survived. 'There was a failure to respond adequately to the request for a C-section.' The coroner will be issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the hospital to make sure correct information is given to mothers-to-be about prolonged pregnancies, induction and C-section deliveries. She also requested proof the hospital was improving training and communication between staff. Speaking after the inquest, Sharon McNally, chief nurse and deputy chief executive at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, said: 'We recognise the coroner's findings and we sincerely apologise to baby Emmy's family.' Last year, the trust was criticised after blowing £58,000 sending 14 staff on a fact-finding jolly to a Las Vegas technology conference, including a five-night stay in a casino hotel. It had been rated as 'requires improvement' by the care regulator and ended the previous year with a £13 million deficit.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Parents' pain after Harlow hospital failures led to baby's death
Hospital failures led to baby's death - inquest 9 minutes ago Share Save Lewis Adams BBC News, Essex Nikki Fox BBC health correspondent, Essex Share Save Russo family Emmy Russo's death was preventable had hospital staff acted sooner, an inquest heard The parents of a baby who died after five missed opportunities for a C-section said their lives had transformed into a "continuous reel" of grief. Emmy Russo died three days after she was born at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, in January 2024. A coroner ruled that had staff acted on concerns raised by mother Bryony Russo earlier, it was likely the newborn would have survived. Sharon McNally, the hospital's chief nurse, said she recognised the coroner's findings, and added: "We sincerely apologise to baby Emmy's family." Russo family The pregnancy had been deemed low-risk and the couple expected a healthy baby She said: "The safety of women, babies and families when receiving maternity care is our absolute priority and we ensure that learning from any incident is part of our focus on continuous improvement." The inquest at Essex Coroner's Court heard Emmy's brain was starved of oxygen during labour, causing her catastrophic brain injuries. It followed several warning signs, including meconium, the consistency of "toothpaste" in Mrs Russo's waters, not being heeded by hospital staff. "When we knew meconium was starting to show, I felt that Emmy was too high up in my belly," Ms Russo told the BBC. "I'd never had a baby before, so it was just an instinct, a feeling of I couldn't see my baby naturally coming out that way." Russo family Bryony and Daniel Russo said they were "overjoyed" at the thought of becoming parents Mrs Russo said she asked for a C-section, but was "laughed off" and told to proceed with a natural birth. Her husband, Daniel, added: "I kept telling Bryony 'please trust them, they're professionals so let them do their job'. "It was a very relaxed atmosphere at the Princess Alexandra, everything was 'don't worry, it'll be OK'. "But everything wasn't OK for a very long period of time, and it resulted in the death of our daughter." Mr Russo said staff congratulated him on becoming a father before telling him Emmy had been "born dead". "In one minute, I went through the emotions of thinking it was all OK, to confusion, to heartbreak," he added. Emmy was transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge but died in her father's arms three days later. Russo family Mr and Mrs Russo hope hospital staff learn from Emmy's death Mrs Russo said she lost her job of 10 years and did not leave the house for four months in the aftermath of her daughter's death. "You lose any direction of life, how I experience grief is a continuous reel of what happened." 'Upset and anger' The couple said they finally felt heard after the inquest laid bare the hospital's failures. Independent expert obstetrician Teresa Kelly told the court there had been enough evidence "this baby wasn't coping with labour" and staff should have acted sooner. "It was overwhelming because it was a relief, but then there was so much upset and anger because it just confirmed there were so many points where it could've been different," Mrs Russo said. She claimed it was "terrifying" to witness staff interpret guidelines and scans differently, rather than everyone being "on the same page". Mrs Russo added: "I really hope what happened with Emmy makes a change in those professionals involved, but also those people who are learning across all departments." If you have been affected by this story, you can find organisations that offer help, support and information at BBC Action Line. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Faster action could have saved baby at Harlow hospital
Earlier C-section could have saved baby - inquest 8 minutes ago Share Save Nikki Fox BBC health correspondent, Essex Reporting from Essex Coroner's Court Share Save Family handout Emmy's mother and father, Bryony and Daniel Russo, said their concerns were repeatedly dismissed The inquest into the death of a newborn baby has heard she would have been "less likely" to have died if an emergency caesarean section had been carried out sooner. Emmy Russo was delivered at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, Essex and died three days later on 12 January 2024 as a result of catastrophic brain injuries. Independent expert obstetrician Teresa Kelly told Essex Coroner's Court there had been enough evidence "this baby wasn't coping with labour" and staff should have acted sooner. Midwife Megan Fletcher defended her decision not to escalate concerns to a more senior doctor, saying she was trying to avoid any further "invasive procedures". Ms Kelly told the inquest that, in her experience, midwives sometimes tried to reduce the need for medical interventions. But she said speculum examinations were sterile and did not believe there would have been a risk of infection with a vaginal examination. Family handout The parents of Emmy Russo say they raised concerns on multiple occasions during her mother's labour Bryony and Daniel Russo had earlier told the inquest their concerns were "repeatedly dismissed" during labour, despite meconium [the baby's excrement] being found in Ms Russo's waters. Mrs Russo told the inquest she felt her baby "wasn't going to come out" during labour and she knew something was wrong, which she had repeatedly told staff. She had been classified as low-risk during pregnancy and had not experienced any serious complications before labour. But staff had found evidence of meconium the consistency of "toothpaste" in her waters. Ms Kelly also said there was evidence of "continuing, abnormal" results from a cardiotocography (CTG) scan during Ms Russo's labour. Ms Kelly told the inquest that she would have expected a full holistic review of Ms Russo's care with a consultant obstetrician or registrar carrying out a speculum examination early on, especially as meconium had been found. She said it would have been better "to progress to a caesarean section". Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust Emmy Russo died three days after being born at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow Ms Kelly said that at the very least, a doctor should have be brought in to talk to Mrs Russo about her concerns. She told assistant coroner for Essex, Thea Wilson, that there was enough evidence "that this baby wasn't coping with labour" and that she "didn't feel it was a good decision to have continued with labour". She said if Emmy had been delivered earlier, she would have been in a better condition and would have been less likely to have died. After Emmy was born, no heartbeat could be detected and she had to be resuscitated before being transferred to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge. An MRI scan there revealed she had severe brain damage and she died three days later. A post-mortem examination found she died from acute hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen and blood flow, and placental disfunction. The inquest continues. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
