Baby tragedy parents 'put through hell'
The hospital transfer of a critically-ill baby girl from Shropshire to Birmingham without either of her parents was "totally unacceptable", an inquest heard.
Dr Alison Bedford Russell also told the court yesterday that Kate Seren Stanton-Davies's parents had been "put through hell" by the ordeal.
The couple, Rhiannon Davies and Richard Stanton, of Dahn Drive, Ludlow, claim a catalogue of ambulance service and clinical errors lay behind Kate's death just six hours after she was born.
Kate was born at 10.05am on March 1, 2009, at the midwife-led maternity unit at Ludlow Community Hospital but collapsed two hours later and was airlifted to Birmingham Heartlands Hospital.
Dr Bedford-Russell, a consultant paediatrician who battled to keep Kate alive at Heartlands, told the jury inquest in Bridgnorth that Kate was almost dead on arrival and added: "I wanted to keep her alive long enough for one of her parents to be able to see her."
She said Mr Stanton eventually found where his daughter was after ringing round hospitals and he then went straight to Heartlands.
Mrs Bedford-Russell said: "He arrived at 4pm, just in time for me to be able to put Kate in his arms to die."
Miss Davies finally arrived as well but only 90 minutes after Kate had died.
Mrs Bedford-Russell said it was completely unacceptable for a baby to be transferred without a parent.
The court has heard Kate collapsed at Ludlow Community Hospital two hours after being born and died later from brain damage caused by anaemia which in turn was brought on by fetomaternal haemorrhaging.
Dr Janet Rennie, a consultant based at University College Hospital in London, told the inquest she agreed with the cause of death.
The hearing continues.
