A MOTHER has told how she endures nightmares following the death of her newborn daughter in hospital.

Staff at Stockton's University Hospital of North Tees intervened in the birth of the girl, an inquest on Teesside was told, when there was no sign of her moving in the womb.

She was just three days old when she died in May 2013, having suffered a brain haemorrhage, with her parents by her side.

The inquest was told that a ventouse, or vacuum birth delivery suction cup, had been applied incorrectly to the soft, unformed part of the baby's head, known as the fontanelle.

The baby was delivered and for several hours all seemed well. However, she later became unconscious and it was discovered she had suffered the brain haemorrhage.

Teesside's acting senior coroner, Clare Bailey, must now decide if the ventouse delivery caused the baby's death.

In heartbreaking testimony, the mother, from Stockton, said: "Basically, we stayed in hospital watching her die. She would stop breathing and her heart kept stopping. Each time it happened the time it took to get her back was getting longer. On one occasion we were told she had died and then she gasped.

"I go over what happened every night. I have nightmares. After I came home from hospital, I kept hearing alarms going off and thinking that I was still watching the monitor. I would wake up and say that I have to check (her). I have even dreamt that (the doctor) was outside the house with a gun.

"I have had two miscarriages since (her) death. My community midwife has told me it is due to trauma."

The inquest was told the decision was taken to intervene on April 30, 2013 when the mother had been apparently ready to give birth for several hours, but there was no movement from the baby. The couple had wanted a Caesarian but the consultant was in theatre and they were persuaded to use a ventouse machine, as is standard practice.

In a written statement, the doctor in charge of the procedure, Dr Shahzadi Munaza, agreed that the cup should be placed two to three centimetres away from the fontanelle and not on it.

After the birth, the child seemed fine until about 12.30am on May 1 when she stopped breathing. She was revived and a decision was at first made to take her to the Great North Children's Hospital in Newcastle.

However, doctors discovered she had a serious bleed on the brain and, after consultation with her parents, decided it was better not to revive her.

The inquest at Teesside Magistrates Court continues.

  • The Northern Echo has agreed to withhold names in this article at the family's request.