Newborn With Breathing Trouble Died Because Hospital Didn't Follow Procedure

A newborn baby boy died after he was unable to breathe for 26 minutes soon after birth. The mother has blamed hospital staff for not following delivery procedures.

Just four days after being born in Kingston Hospital at Surrey, southeast England, Sebastian Clark died an inquest heard Thursday. The baby had been transferred to a specialist neonatal unit at St George's hospital in Tooting in south London, a day after he was born. Doctors had told the parents of the newborn that the baby was brain dead and required to be put on life support.

He finally breathed for four hours unaided before he died, according to Mail Online.

His parents Alison and Justin Clark from Surbiton, a suburban neighborhood of southwest London, told their heartbreaking story as they had to turn off his life support machine after he was diagnosed with an infection that doctors said he would not recover from. During the inquest, it was revealed that Sebastian had a difficult birth as the hospital ignored the couple's requests for an emergency caesarean in March 2017.

Alison told the inquest that her child contracted an infection and suffered severe brain damage that left him unable to breathe, hear or see soon after he was born.

"I trusted staff that everything was fine. We were always assured Sebastian was fine, even when they said he might have a bit of an infection," Alison said. "I was never concerned because I was always told he was fine."

At the time of Sebastien's birth, maternity doctors had two emergencies at the same time and had to prioritise another mother.

"I asked whether I should have a caesarean section. I mentioned this a few times thereafter but we were always told it wasn't medically necessary... I was reviewed by the clinician and told my contractions needed to be sped up. I always asked if everything was OK with Sebastian and was always assured he was fine. I also asked a number of times about the caesarean," Alison said.

After birth, Alison said two doctors came and spoke to her and Justin, "making excuses."

And two weeks after his death, Alison received a letter from the hospital which "apologised for letting [her] down."

"It was anxiety provoking to receive that letter and not speak to anyone about it for many days. I thought it was my fault as I had an infection and needed help pushing," she said.

Justin recalled feeling "terrified" during the emergency. He told the inquest: "I was anxiously trying to figure out what was going on because I still did not know why Alison was rushed away. I was in a state of panic trying to decide what different alarms meant. There was blood, very much blood. That exact moment in time will haunt me for the rest of my life. I was fearful for Alison and my son's lives.

"I was scared. I was desperately hoping with every fibre of my being that my little boy would be alright but had been aware from previous knowledge that the human brain suffers damage at roughly ten minutes without oxygen - at this time I thought he had been without it for 26 minutes."