Baby died after skull fracture at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
A baby died two days after suffering a fractured skull during delivery, an inquest has heard.
But an expert said little Jenson Langford need not have suffered any injury if he had been born by caesarean section earlier.
Jenson died on June 18 last year, two days after being delivered by C-section at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The inquest heard that he suffered a fractured right parietal bone, at the back of his head, and that his umbilical cord had been wrapped around his neck when he was born.
His parents, Kate Langford and Andrew Barnett, from Newtown, attended the hearing at the Guildhall in Shrewsbury, which started yesterday and is expected to last three days.
Miss Langford was admitted to the hospital on June 15 and her baby was born at 2.54pm the following day.
A report by one of the nurses on duty noted that he was floppy at birth but that he was breathing regularly within one minute and was taken to the neonatal unit.
Evidence was given by Dr Sharon Oates, a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital trust, who attempted to deliver baby Jenson with forceps before deciding to deliver via C-section.
Dr Oates had undergone retraining following the death of another baby who suffered brain damage after a forceps delivery in 2007.
She received a warning from the General Medical Council which is due to expire next month and returned to work in obstetrics and gynaecology in April 2012.
Dr Oates was asked to respond to criticisms from Patrick Forbes, an independent expert in obstetrics and gynaecology, who had been asked to read the case notes by Shropshire coroner John Ellery before the inquest.
Mr Forbes criticised a failure to decide to carry out a caesarean delivery at 11am after noting a decrease in the foetal heartbeat and the presence of meconium- a substance which can indicate stress in the foetus.
He said he believed that if Jenson had been born by C-section at 11am he would have escaped all injury.
But Dr Oates said she had acted according to guidelines as the foetal heartbeat had returned to normal within five minutes.
She said: "In this case the baby had the umbilical cord around its neck and so the cord will be pulling tighter and tighter as it descends down the uterus.
"Even though it occurred from time to time the foetal heartbeat was returning to normal so the baby was coping with it."
She accepted that the use of forceps could have accidentally applied pressure to the umbilical cord.
While giving evidence she offered her condolences to Jenson's parents.
"It's terrible that they have lost their son," she said.
The hearing continues.
