Latest news with #birthinjury
Irish Times
22-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Settlement of €1.9m for boy who suffered ‘severe personal injury' at Portlaoise hospital
A boy born in Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise who was allegedly delivered after a delayed Caesarean section amid rowing doctors and who suffered 'severe personal injury' has had a €1.9 million settlement in his favour approved by the High Court . The now 16-year-old was born on January 30th, 2009, at the hospital, which has been subject to investigation over patient safety. His mother sued the HSE on behalf of her son for breach of statutory duty – alleged medical negligence – to adequately provide medical services to her and her son in 2009 at the Co Laois hospital. It was submitted that she was due to give birth around January 25th, 2009, and had attended all of her antenatal appointments, culminating with a clinic at the hospital on January 29th, 2009, when no 'significant abnormal conditions in relation to the pregnancy were present'. READ MORE She was admitted to the hospital on January 30th, 2009, five days after her due date, but had 'slow and irregular' pain. A cardiotocography trace (CTG) was carried out and was found to be 'abnormal', as the unborn baby displayed 'frequent decelerations' in his heart rate. However, despite the abnormal readings, the CTG was discontinued. A second CTG was carried out at 8.45am the same morning that showed decelerations and abnormalities up to around 12.30pm. It was claimed that then a syntocinon treatment – an injection involving the drug oxytocin – was administered to augment labour. It was claimed that the readings from the CTG were not reproduced in a legible fashion and were difficult to interpret. A decision was made to deliver the boy by emergency Caesarean section and the boy was born at 1.36pm, allegedly 80 minutes after a decision to perform the Caesarean was made – 50 minutes outside the usual time frame. It was claimed the boy suffered 'extreme difficulties' with breathing, due to hypoxia, and that there was a delay in his resuscitation. In addition, an altercation between members of the hospital staff occurred during the attempts at resuscitation of the plaintiff, it was alleged. During a second attempt at intubation, a doctor was interrupted by an anaesthetic doctor without invitation who attempted to force an oxygen mask on the child, it was claimed. It was alleged that the anaesthetist 'brushed aside' the attending doctor and raised his voice, shouting 'for f*** sake just bag him'. The doctor was eventually able to drain meconium – a baby's first stool – from the child through suction, after which safe intubation was performed. The doctor, it was submitted, was 'considerably interrupted in his attempts to intubate and resuscitate the plaintiff by actions of the anaesthetist doctor'. In the aftermath of his birth, the plaintiff was noted as being in pain, jaundiced, vomiting with streaks of blood, having hypoxic metabolic acidosis, high blood pressure and in need of ventilation. The plaintiff spent 11 days in intensive care, and an MRI scan showed the plaintiff's kidney and brain had an infarct resulting in 'severe personal injuries', it was claimed. At the High Court on Tuesday Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told by John Healy SC, instructed by David O'Malley of Callan Tansey solicitors, for the plaintiff that a final settlement of €1.9 million for breaches of duty by the defendant, albeit without an admission of liability, could be recommended to the court for what he said was the boy's 'turbulent' introduction to the world. Mr Justice Coffey approved the settlement and addressed the boy, who was present in court, saying he was pleased to see him 'looking so well and I wish you all the best for the future'. Reacting to the settlement, solicitor David O'Malley, in a statement on behalf the family, said: 'The family welcomes the settlement and for the security it will provide.' He added: 'It truly is a second-tier maternity system outside of The Pale. 'The family echoes calls by advocate groups to urgently review maternity care in Ireland. One cannot think of a more important right than the right to breathe and be protected at birth.'
BreakingNews.ie
22-07-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Boy (16) who suffered 'severe' injury after alleged delay amid doctors' row receives €1.9m
A boy born in Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise who was allegedly delivered after a delayed Caesarean Section amid rowing doctors and who suffered "severe personal injury" has had a €1.9 million settlement in his favour approved by the High Court. Dillon Brennan (16) was born on January 30th, 2009, at the hospital, which has been subject to investigation over patient safety, to Corinna Brennan, who is also his carer at their Athy, Co Kildare, home. Advertisement Mrs Brennan sued the HSE on behalf of her son for breach of statutory duty - alleged medical negligence - to adequately provide medical services to Mrs Brennan and her son in 2009 at the Co Laois hospital. It was submitted that Mrs Brennan was due to give birth around January 25th, 2009, and had attended all of her antenatal appointments, culminating with a clinic at the hospital on January 29th, 2009, when no "significant abnormal conditions in relation to the pregnancy were present". Mrs Brennan was admitted to the hospital on January 30th, 2009, five days after her due date, but had "slow and irregular" pain. A cardiotocography trace (CTG) was carried out and was found to be "abnormal", as the unborn baby displayed "frequent decelerations" in his heart rate. However, despite the abnormal readings, the CTG was discontinued. Advertisement A second CTG was carried out at 8.45am the same morning that showed decelerations and abnormalities up to around 12.30pm. It was claimed that then a syntocinon treatment - an injection involving the drug Oxycontin - was administered to augment labour. It was claimed that the readings from the CTG were not reproduced in a legible fashion and were difficult to interpret. A decision was made to deliver Dillon by emergency Caesarean Section, and Dillon was born at 1:36pm, allegedly 80 minutes after a decision to perform the Caesarean was made - 50 minutes outside the usual timeframe. Advertisement It was claimed that Dillon then suffered "extreme difficulties" with breathing, due to hypoxia, and that there was a delay in his resuscitation. In addition, an altercation between members of the hospital staff occurred during the attempts at resuscitation of the plaintiff, it was alleged. During a second attempt at intubation, a doctor was interrupted by an anaesthetic doctor without invitation who attempted to force an oxygen mask on the child, it was claimed. It was alleged that the anaesthetist "brushed aside" the attending doctor and raised his voice, shouting "for f**k sake just bag him". The doctor was eventually able to drain meconium - a baby's first stool - from the child through suction, after which safe intubation was performed. Advertisement The doctor, it was submitted, was "considerably interrupted in his attempts to intubate and resuscitate the plaintiff by actions of the anaesthetist doctor". In the aftermath of his birth, the plaintiff was noted as being in pain, jaundiced, vomiting with streaks of blood, having hypoxic metabolic acidosis, high blood pressure and in need of ventilation. The plaintiff spent 11 days in intensive care, and an MRI scan showed the plaintiff's kidney and brain had an infarct resulting in "severe personal injuries", it was claimed. At the High Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Paul Coffey was told by John Healy SC, instructed by David O'Malley of Callan Tansey solicitors, for the plaintiff that a final settlement of €1.9 million for breaches of duty by the defendant, albeit without an admission of liability, could be recommended to the court for what he said was Mr Brennan's "turbulent" introduction to the world. Advertisement Mr Justice Coffey approved the settlement and addressed Mr Brennan, who was present in court, saying he was pleased to see Mr Brennan "looking so well and I wish you all the best for the future". Reacting to the settlement, solicitor David O'Malley, in a statement on behalf the family, said that the family welcome it and "the security it will provide Dillon. "They would like to acknowledge the efforts of the State Claims Agency and their legal representatives in facilitating mediation to resolve this case. The purpose of civil society is to prevent similar events reoccurring. "The family questioned the birth, having witnessed the Portlaoise maternity enquiry and the aftermath in 2012. "Unfortunately, the same avoidable failings, namely delayed delivery, inadequate CTG (cardiotocography) tracing and misuse of Oxytocin, still remain as main causes of hypoxia in Irish infants in 2025. "Also, in the year 2025 there are no cooling units to counteract hypoxia in infants outside of Cork and Dublin. "It truly is a second-tier maternity system outside of The Pale. "The family echoes calls by advocate groups to urgently review maternity care in Ireland. One cannot think of a more important right than the right to breathe and be protected at birth," said Mr O'Malley.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Singleton Hospital maternity report reveals 'concerning' care
Parents of a boy left with lifelong disabilities due to hospital failings during his birth say no lessons have been learnt. Sian and Rob Channon's son Gethin was born at Swansea's Singleton hospital in 2019 and say his life was "destroyed before he took his own breath" after being left with a serious brain comes as a report into the hospital's maternity and neonatal services found pregnant women were left alone in labour or had to give birth outside proper areas, with some mums saying they decided not to have more children as a result of their experiences. Swansea Bay health board apologised to parents with a "poor experience" and said it was focused on strengthening its services. Llais, which represents patients in Wales, based its report on more than 500 people's experiences of maternity and neonatal services at Swansea's Singleton report, carried out over several months at the end of 2024, heard about failings in safety, quality of care and respect at almost every families felt ignored or unable to raise concerns and Llais could not find anybody who shared "an entirely positive experience of their care".The health board insisted a number of changes have been made but Llais said "cultural, clinical and leadership" improvements were most serious concerns in the report revolve around mothers who felt the safety of their babies could have been "at risk", with Llais hearing "distressing stories" of women being left alone in labour and failures to recognise and treat infections. Mr Channon said it was horrifying knowing that Gethin's situation was "avoidable". "As a result of catastrophic failings, he was left with lifelong disabilities. A serious brain injury that has shortened his life expectation and left him really struggling day to day."Gethin can't walk. Gethin can't move on his own. He's fed through a button in his stomach. He's completely reliant on other people for every aspect of his life." Mrs Channon said they found it very difficult to go out anywhere where they see other children. "You can't help but compare children of Gethin's age and wonder why your son isn't running around and splashing in the sea."The couple, who were first made aware of what went wrong during Gethin's birth in 2022, said they were furious a report in 2025 "shows no lessons have been learnt". A total of 76% of people who took part in the survey reported a negative experience or identified failures in the quality of their care, including feeling like being on "a conveyor belt", or "lost in a system".Several women said they were not fully monitored and had to push for mum was left feeling "like a slab of meat" after being left "covered in blood".She added: "I had one person taking my clothes off, another inserting a catheter. I was naked and uncovered. My catheter was left in for 26 hours. I had a horrific experience and just left."One mother said: "This experience is one of the main reasons I will not have more children. I cannot go through all that again."Another said: "At birth I wasn't checked for two hours. I went to the toilet and rang the emergency cord - I gave birth in the toilet cubicle." A separate ongoing independent review of the health board's maternity services, commissioned after serious concerns about maternity services were recorded in 2023 and 2024, is set to be published in the said it wanted to give more families an opportunity to share their experiences. Llais said it was concerning that only 48% of respondents felt involved in decisions about their care, given the importance of informed consent and shared respondents felt "pressurised" into having their babies induced without full discussion of the risks, benefits and the report heard examples of staff providing compassionate, professional and supportive care, it found these were often tied to specific described a "dismissive" culture with one woman feeling "judged" after asking for a bath, and was also told "it isn't the Hilton" for asking for a pillow. The report said "a consistent and deeply concerning theme" was people not being listened to, even when they raised serious mother said she was told to take paracetamol and "rest up" when she phoned a consultant concerned about reduced movement of her unborn child following a car accident. She said: "I later found out that an accident is one of the main causes of a placental abruption. Which is how we actually lost our son. They didn't listen at all."Inadequate or no pain relief was also a frequent complaint, with many women describing being made to feel they were overreacting or imagining included woman being told they were not in pain, being wrongly told they were not in the process of giving birth or being questioned about why they needed pain relief immediately after stitches. Just 53% of respondents reported postnatal care was "positive", while 21% identified poor care, including feeling neglected, unsupported and even unsafe."I had to walk two wards to get to my baby after surgery [then] I collapsed at the reception desk," said one women spoke of being unable to reach their newborn due to a lack of assistance after having caesareans. "I couldn't reach my baby. I was told: 'You're the mum, we don't have to do everything for you'," said one respondent. Some women with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit said they were left to manage their own recovery and were unable able to see their babies. Some women told the report stereotypes affected their care, with black women describing being perceived as "aggressive" and others feeling "invisible".Some who spoke English as a second language said they found it difficult to understand new mum, a healthcare professional, said she was warned complaining about her care could threaten her ability to practise medicine in the UK, which she felt led to severe postnatal depression and the breakdown of her marriage. Llais said it wants acknowledgement from the health board of the scale and nature of poor care and commitment to use the report and the independent review findings to learn and report regularly on performance. It has also asked the Welsh government to encourage the development of a national approach to support those harmed by poor maternity care. Medwin Hughes, chairman of Llais, said: "What's needed now is continued leadership across the system to make sure those experiences are heard and acted on."Health board chief executive Abi Harris said the organisation was "completely focused on strengthening our services and the Llais report recognises many of the improvements that have been made"."We will respond fully to all the recommendations of all these important reports together and ensure we learn and act on them," she Jan Williams apologised and said she was grateful for the report and did not "underestimate how difficult it will have been for individuals who have had a negative experience of our services to relive that while contributing". The Welsh government said its main concern was for the welfare of the mothers and babies. In a statement, it said: "Considerable work is ongoing to improve the safety and quality of maternity services in Swansea Bay, but as the Llais report indicates, there is still more to do to improve the experiences for all women."It added it had commissioned an assessment of the safety and quality of all maternity units in Wales to "measure the impact of recent interventions made".
