A baby died aged just 28 days after suffering fatal injuries during his birth when doctors used forceps, an inquest heard.
Finley May suffered head and spinal fractures when he was born at Hull Women and Children's Hospital on February 16, 2021.
During mum Sasha Leuty’s labour, consultants decided she needed an assisted birth using Kielland forceps, an inquest heard.
However paediatric pathologist Professor Marta Cohn told an inquest into Finley’s death he had died as his brain was starved of oxygen due to skull and spinal fractures caused by the use of forceps, HullLive reports.
Ms Leuty, a radiographer from Hull, said: “I fell pregnant for the first time with Finley and we were very excited to be parents.
“My pregnancy was deemed low risk and there were no complications throughout. As far as I was concerned everything was progressing normally.
“I was told they would have to use forceps to move Finley and no other options, such as a Caesarean, were discussed. I trusted the doctors but had I known the risks I would never have agreed to the use of forceps. But it was the only option I was given.
“We were told the birth had been done in line with national guidelines but how was this the case when Finley had to skull fractures?
“We raised our concerns with the trust and I believe my permission should have been sought.
“All women should be given a choice on the mode of delivery and the trust apologised for not giving me that choice.
“It was not discussed with me about the serious risks of using forceps. If I had been offered a Caesarean I would have taken it as I felt this would be the safest method after a natural birth.
“Finley was so dearly loved by his family and we miss him so much. We still cannot believe he is gone.
“We cannot understand how his death was allowed to happen.”
When she went into labour Ms Leuty was examined by a midwife who was concerned Finley was in the ‘back to back’ position.
She struggled to give birth and began to experience a lot of back pain and after around three hours she was taken to the labour ward for an epidural after requesting it a number of times. A consultant told her Finley was no longer in the ‘back to back’ position and he was fine.
But she continued to struggle and was told again by a midwife she thought Finley was in the ‘back to back’ position, when they decided to use forceps.
On the third attempt to use forceps Finley was finally born and he was placed on Ms Leuty’s abdomen so they could bond.
But Ms Leuty knew something was wrong immediately.
She told proceedings: “I could see Finley was blue in colour and he was not crying or screaming.
“He was taken off me and they tried to stimulate him. Without explanation they took him to another room very quickly. He was intubated in another room due to Covid restrictions and I didn’t get to hold him.”
The parents were told Finley was very floppy and there was no movement below the neck. Staff said it could be minor damage and Finley could fully recover. But as time went on there were fluctuating diagnoses around whether or not he would.
Ms Leuty said there were “lots of difficult conversations” over the next couple of weeks and the extent of Finley’s spinal injuries only became apparent later on.
On March 15, 2021, there was an attempt to take him off ventilation to see if he could survive on his own. Sadly, he was unable to and died the next day.
Lindsey Earle was a midwife on duty when Ms Leuty gave birth and explained the monitoring showed nothing abnormal but there were concerns about Finley’s ‘back to back’ position.
Ms Earle said she did not discuss a Caesarean with Ms Leuty as she did not want to cause unnecessary anxiety at that point.
The inquest also heard from the consultant on duty that night, Dr James Tibbert, who oversaw Ms Leuty’s assisted birth and worked in the obstetrics department at the time.
He said the decision was taken to undergo an assisted birth due to the “slow progress” in the second stage of labour and Finley’s position.
Dr Tibbott explained how the forceps are used saying: “The forceps have no press gauge to show what pressure is applied."
He said it is difficult to teach people how to apply the right pressure and avoid excess force.
Senior Coroner Professor Paul Marks told Mr Tibbott he understood the Hull University Teaching NHS Hospitals Trust no longer uses the Kielland forceps.
When asked why, he said he could not say why that decision had been taken.
The inquest continues.
