UK & World News
- 19 May 2012, 1:02
Baby Dies In Waiting Room: Dad Blames Hospital
A father whose baby son died after being born in a hospital waiting room has told Sky News he believes his son might have survived if he had been given better care.
Steven Yorke and his partner Sara Proud went to Leicester Royal Infirmary on Sunday night when Sara realised she was in labour.
When they arrived they were told to wait in a side room with other expectant parents.
But 80 minutes later baby Kyle was born while Mr Yorke was trying to find help.
When two midwives did come to assist, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck.
Kyle was quickly delivered and rushed off in the hope of being revived, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
Mr Yorke told Sky news: "It's numbing. We're not sleeping well, we're not eating well The slightest thing and we'll cry. Sara's not left the house at all.
"It's affected the children in a big way. What can you say? They've let us down.
"I actually believe they neglected us - they didn't give us the care we deserve and that's purely it."
Even after the birth, Sara was left to deliver the placenta in the waiting room and only realised Kyle had died when Mr Yorke found her and told her what had happened.
Leicester Royal Infirmary has admitted that mistakes were made.
Jane Porter, head of midwifery at Leicester's Hospitals said: "We are sorry and sad about the tragic death of Ms Proud's son.
"We have met with Sara and Steven and we will do so again when further investigations have taken place.
"It's clear that we should have seen Sara sooner, what's not clear is whether her baby died during or some time before the birth and only the post mortem will be able to answer that."
The family are now waiting for the result of the post mortem examination to discover whether Kyle could have been saved with better care.
Update:
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what do you think?
Stephen Richards
The good old days when a mum to be was queen in a hospital are now gone. Hospitals are like baby mills, just churning them out without any emotion attached to the event! Bring the old days back!!
kyle rambo
Times have changed and unfortunately it is not for the better.
Jim England
R.I.P little one and my thoughts go out to you Sara & Steven - you have been let down in the most awful way possible. This awful tragedy would not have happend, had it not been for Labour's horrific, deliberate uncontrolled immigration to the UK, combined with the Leftie EU Human Rights lawyers letting all and sundry settle in the UK whether they have any right to or not. Our hospitals are overcrowded, full of "health tourists" and staff that can barely speak any English. We are becoming a 3rd world country in short order. Thanks Labour you made it happen.
aa aa
You utter pillock. Using this tragic event to attack the Labour party.Ok the hospitals are overcrowded, but not exactly overfunded are they. I wonder why.You should apologise to these poor people, and anyone else reading your self indulgent tripe. They have lost a child, and you want to use it for political argument. I'm surprised Orange let idiots like you, on here.
Jennie Morris
Well said. As an ex nurse I am staggered by the lack of basic care given at times these days & sometimes I feel that a lack of resources is just an excuse for not bothering
Samantha Williams WasDuncombe
Even if the baby had been born alive, giving birth in a waiting room is not acceptable.
ffreem200
This story is just heart breaking. My sympathy to both parents and the other children.
Phylip de la Maziere
This comment has been removed for violations of our Terms and Conditions.
stevegs850
This is the worst event i have ever heard in my life above all the horrific stories we read and hear about daily, this is less than victorian,this was completely unavoidable,this is 2012 not1812,The attitude of theN.H.S. is no better than operatives in a chicken proccesing plant i know i have been to both and sincerely hope this unit was not inundated with births of parents not of this land.
Adrian Wagstaff
I never tried helping anyone give birth and I really wouldn't want to. I would imagine there are so many million births every day, quite a few don't work right. I would also think the possibility of an umbilical cord strangling a baby is very high indeed. Not 100%. It can't be very easy knowing if such an item is around a baby's neck or not or even be able to remove it. I don't know what the statistical probability of such events happening are but technically it seems quite likely, regrettable as that is to say. 1/4 of babies born in America have their umbilical cords wrapped around their necks so far as I have just discovered.
Samantha Williams WasDuncombe
Approximately 1/3 of babies are born with the cord around their neck. It does not normally cause a problem as the midwife would simply unwind it once the head has delivered. When it does cause a problem is if the baby is born with the cord around the neck & it is not removed fast enough. Obviously there are cases where the baby is affected before birth, but these are rare. My son had the cord wrapped twice around his neck, but was delivered safely with no problems.
d and d Phillips
Shameful. Disgraceful. Careless. Disgusting. But sadly, a sign of the times and it will get worse for as long as hospitals are run as businesses rather than the services they were created to be.
B. Wise
This is unacceptable. Too sad for words.
isabel68
Disgusting, when I had my children in the 60s we recieved muach better care. My thoughts are with the family.
Lorgar Aurelian
5:14pm on 18/5/2012
This hospital has hardly covered itself in glory with this. I always think they are just too quick to get new mothers out of the door anyway...