BBC News
Published
image captionThe North Devon District Hospital said it has made improvements to its maternity service since 2017
A baby who died shortly after birth might have survived if he had been delivered one or two minutes sooner, an inquest has concluded.
Freddie Barnett died at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple after a difficult birth in June 2017.
The coroner at the inquest in Exeter concluded his mother was not given full information over her emergency birthing options.
The hospital trust said it had taken positive steps towards improving.
Mum Charlotte Barnett was in advanced labour when Freddie was unexpectedly found to be in a breech position.
A coroner has said that a newborn baby may have survived if a consultant had not left the room and the child had been born a few minutes earlier.
The hospital - which has been linked to 20 maternity deaths or serious harm cases - accepted there were failings in their care and offered their sincere condolences for the devastating loss of the baby.
Freddie Barnett s delivery at the hospital in Barnstaple, North Devon, in June 2017 was difficult because of his low heart rate and poor condition.
Despite the best efforts of midwives, Freddie died 30 minutes after his birth.
Today his mother Charlotte Barnett, 30, gave an inquest a harrowing account of Freddie dying minutes after he was delivered.
She is an active child but becomes frustrated when she cannot keep up with her friends or play as they do.
The High Bickington youngster is under North Devon District Hospital, but the family have struggled to get appointments, even before Covid, but Brenda said the pandemic took things ‘to a whole new level’.
She said: “Eventually we had a face-to-face appointment at the end of September in which it was suggested Emilia was ‘functioning really well’ having been observed walking up and down a lovely, flat and even hospital corridor surface for two minutes.
“Another splint was ordered and we were informed that it would be sent to our GP practice and we would yet again be left to fit it ourselves. This splint has never arrived to us.
Eight more coronavirus deaths confirmed by NHS in Devon hospitals devonlive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from devonlive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.