The death of a baby girl 18 hours after she was born was unconnected to her mother’s decision to have a natural birth, an inquest has heard.
Erin Blaides died at the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street on January 16, 2019 as a result of complications with her lungs and brain caused by meconium, a baby’s first faeces.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard her mum, Louise Blaides, had wanted a natural birth and had chosen to avail of the antenatal Domino care service provided by community-based midwives.
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Paul Downey, a pathologist who conducted a postmortem on Erin’s body, said she had suffered meconium aspiration syndrome, a condition in which meconium gets into the lungs.
Dr Downey said the baby was normally formed and had no congenital disorder but was covered in thick dark meconium and had suffered a severe brain injury.
The pathologist admitted it was unclear exactly why it had happened. While meconium can be normal in labour, he said in this case there was the additional problem that it caused the blood vessels in the umbilical cord to contract which reduced the amount of blood being supplied to the child.
The condition would have occurred at least 16 hours before the baby was born and before Ms Blaides had arrived at the hospital.
Dr Downey said what happened was unrelated to the fact that Ms Blaides had wanted a natural birth.
He added that he believed the bigger problem with the meconium was its neurological impact rather than its effect on the baby’s lungs.
In a statement Ms Blaides, who has three other children, recalled how Erin’s labour had been the nicest.
The mum, from Greystones, Co Wicklow, admitted a lot of what happened after the birth was “a bit of a blur” but she had believed that her baby would be fine.
However, she said her husband, Stephen, had a different recollection of events and knew that it was serious.
Ms Blaides said she had become frustrated at not being able to see or hold her daughter before being informed that Erin was very sick and “the outcome was not going to be good”.
Fighting back tears, she added: “I just wanted to be with her. I wanted to make the most of our limited time.”
Ms Blaides outlined the final hours with their newborn as the couple brought in their two older sons, Ryan and Finn, to sing and read together and take family photographs.
She told the inquest: “We celebrated what we called Erin’s Day. The boys met their sister and we had a christening and a party.”
Recalling her baby’s final moments, Ms Blaides said: “I fell asleep as she died in my arms.”
The inquest heard evidence from several medical staff about how baby Erin was pale, unconscious, with her eyes closed and struggling to breathe when she was delivered.
Neonatal consultant Lisa McCarthy said around one in five full-term babies might have a problem with meconium but of these only 10% might experience meconium aspiration syndrome.
Community midwife manager at the National Maternity Hospital, Teresa McCreery, said she did not believe women who used the Domino service got any different treatment to those who attended hospital.
However, she said that since baby Erin’s death, Domino midwives had a consultant working with them.
Dr Clare Keane returned a verdict of death by natural causes.
Offering her sympathy to Erin’s parents, the coroner acknowledged there were still some questions about her death that remained unanswered.
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