'Failures' in medical care played part in baby's death

CORONER FINDS 'SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES NOT TAKEN' PRIOR TO TRAGIC GIRL'S BIRTH

- By DAVID POWELL Daily Post Reporter

"GROSS failures" in medical care and “neglect” played a part in the death of a newborn girl.

A coroner was so concerned about the circumstances surrounding the death of Etta-Lili Stockwell-Parry in 2023 that she issued a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB).

Laura Stockwell-Parry was induced and Etta-Lili was born “in poor condi-tion” on July 3, 2023, at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, having suffered oxygen starvation, according to a pathologist.

She was transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral but died there four days later, on July 7.

Kate Robertson, senior coroner for North West Wales, who held a two-day inquest in Caernarfon last week into Etta-Lili’s death, found neglect was a contributory factor.

Mrs Robertson said staff had failed to notice problems early enough and a subsequent investigation wasn’t thorough enough.

Neither a community midwife nor maternity unit staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd, noticed the baby had stopped growing at about 40 weeks.

The health board described the fail-ures as an “isolated incident”.

Mrs Robertson found the cause of death was hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.

She recorded a narrative conclusion.