'Our wonderful Jen and Agnes died because of a lack of basic care'

AGONY OF FAMILY AS MUM AND BABY DIE IN HOME BIRTH TRAGEDY

- By HELENA VESTY & PAUL BRITTON

North Manchester General

THE family of a mother and baby who died after a ‘chaotic’ home birth said they were both ‘catastrophically let down by mismanagement’ after a coroner ruled the tragedy was caused by ‘neglect’ and ‘gross failures to provide basic care’

Jennifer Cahill’s family issued statements yesterday after the conclusion of a two-week long inquest hearing.

Mrs Cahill, 34, died in hospital on June 3, 2024, after giving birth at her family home in Prestwich, near Bury, which she shared with her husband, Robert Cahill, and their first child. Their second child, baby Agnes, sadly also died in hospital four days later.

A coroner said the family had endured a ‘Victorian-aged tragedy’ played out in modern times as she hit out at ‘gross failures’ to provide basic antenatal care to Mrs Cahill and blasted the care she and Agnes received during the delivery.

All coroner Joanne Kearsley’s comments were directed at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), which runs North Manchester General Hospital. In a statement, Mrs Cahill’s family said they had been ‘devastated to learn, in detail, all the times in which the MFT failed in their care for Jen and Agnes’

But they said they hope the coroner’s findings and recommendations ‘result in positive and sustainable changes in the approach to management of home births across the National Health Service’