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Parents’ claims halt inquest into death of baby
A CORONER halted an inquest into the death of a six-day-old baby after being told parents had asked for help but a subsequent visit by a midwife never took place.
St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid told parents of baby Devora Potera he wanted to adjourn the inquest into her death for further investigations.
Earlier, the baby’s father, Bejtullah Potera, said that, after leaving the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, the baby had “struggled to feed” and had not been washed since she was born.
Despite asking for help, nobody came to see them at their home in Belsize Avenue, Belsize Park, following an initial visit by a midwife who was “unable to help”.
He told the inquest on Thursday that Devora was released from hospital a day after her birth on Tuesday, January 6. But after the first visit by a midwife, when he and his wife asked for help with feeding, washing and getting the baby to sleep, nobody came.
Mr Potera, an Albanian food and drinks manager, said: “I just explained the baby was crying all night and we had problems with breastfeeding. Also said the baby hadn’t been washed. She said she was unable to help and that someone would come. No one came.”
On Sunday, January 11, when Mr Potera was out buying a pram for his daughter, he received a call from his wife saying the baby was not breathing and had turned blue.
The cause of death was not revealed at the inquest, although Dr Reid said at the next hearing it would be given as natural causes.
A report by A and E sister Caroline Stokes, read out by Dr Reid, referred to a London Ambulance Service alert about “a six-day-old baby in cardiac arrest”.
Dr Reid told the parents: “I want to find out more about the support you should have received after you left hospital,” in particular “why you didn’t have the contact with healthcare professionals you were expecting”. |
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