A CREWE mother told an inquest how she is still haunted about the circumstances surrounding the loss of her baby son in childbirth at Leighton Hospital.

Lauren Hillman criticised the care administered by the team on the hospital's labour ward and the decision not to undertake a 'highest priority' caesarean section when it became apparent the birth was running into problems.

Remi Koduah died as a result of a rare complication of pregnancy called Vasa Praevia, passing away [on November 23, 2018] hours after he was born on November 22, 2018.

Ms Hillman recalled being told about her son's death after coming around from surgery and said: "I was devastated to learn that Remi was not given the chance of life.

"In my view I should have been given a category 1 caesarean section. It was a chaotic scene with no one person in charge in an emergency situation.

"It hurt me that my BMI was seen as in some way to blame for Remi's demise. I'm disappointed that there is a lack of understanding of this condition. What hurts me is that Remi would have survived if different people had been there that night."

And she added: "The past three years have been the most difficult of my life continuing it without Remi. Nothing will change from the love I have for him, the passage of time won't change that."

Ms Hillman was said to have been "extremely anxious" over the birth, having suffered a previous miscarriage.

But she said after having made it to full term with Remi she felt she was in the "final stretch" and in the "safest place" to have her baby.

After being induced at the hospital on the evening of the baby's birth she went into labour, but she became concerned about her "blood show" after visiting the toilet.

She was told to continue with gas and air, but a clip was attached to baby Remi's head as part of heart rate monitoring.

With concerns mounting over the baby's CTG (cardiotocography reading) the decision was made to undergo a caesarean section and a consultant gynaecologist was called out.

Ms Hillman told the hearing at Warrington Parr Hall - held more than three years after the baby's death – how when she woke up she was told "Sorry Lauren, Remi didn't make it".

A post-mortem concluded that Remi's death was caused by a ruptured Vasa Praevia.

The condition occurs when fetal umbilical cord blood vessels cross the cervix opening putting them at risk of rupturing.

Midwife Claire Street said she had noted the mother's blood loss and described the baby's CTG as "horrible" with fetal heart rate rising to 88bpm.

Medics made the decision to carry out a category 2 caesarean at 11.23pm on the night.

Claire Mather, who was a midwife at the hospital at the time, said it had been hard to monitor the baby's heart rate because of the stage of labour. She said, in her view, the process to proceed to a caesarean could not "have been done any quicker".

Dr Cathrin Sutcliffe said she made the call to the consultant because of the baby's high heart rate and was advised to undertake a category 2 caesarean. She told the hearing she had no experience of Vasa Praevia and that it was only ever reported in one in 5,000 births.

She said in this case it hadn't presented itself in the way reported in medical text books.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals consultant gynaecologist Rosamund Sawyer, who was called into Leighton, explained to the hearing that the differences between category 1 and 2 caesarean did not necessarily mean that the latter status meant the surgery was not undertaken quickly.

A category 1 status meant the surgery should be done immediately and within 30 minutes, while category 2 sections would need proceeding with within an hour.

But the consultant said: "I felt that it was category 2 as there was no immediate threat to mother or fetus. The categories help us prioritise, but category 2 still means you do it as soon as possible."

Asked by Cheshire Assistant Coroner Heath Westerman whether she should have been called out earlier, the consultant said that while matters needed to be escalated because of the baby's condition she felt the situation could be managed by the staff who were on the labour ward.

The inquest continues tomorrow (Thursday) and the assistant coroner will also hear more evidence on Friday before reporting a conclusion at a future date.