"If it were up to me the Princess Alexandra Hospital wouldn't be open" says grieving mother
Delays in medical decisions were blamed for the death of three-day-old Emmy Russo
A grieving mother from Essex has told Greatest Hits Radio she doesn't think an Essex hospital should even be open after a coroner ruled her daughter's death was "preventable".
There were "serious failings" in Bryony Russo's pregnancy at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.
Bryony had requested a c-section that had been "laughed off" by the midwife, the Inquest said.
"I felt that Emmy was too high up in my belly, but I'd never had a baby before so I didn't really know what I was asking for" Mrs Russo told Greatest Hits Radio.
It followed several warning signs, including meconium, the consistency of "toothpaste" in Mrs Russo's waters, that had not been acted on by hospital staff.
The inquest at Essex Coroner's Court heard Emmy's brain was starved of oxygen during labour, causing her catastrophic brain injuries.
The court heard it was seven hours before Mrs Russo was seen by a doctor, despite a foetal heart rate monitor indicating an abnormal trace from the moment it had been attached.
The coroner said she found there was "miscommunication between doctors and midwives" on the level of severity of the issues and had staff acted on concerns raised by Mrs Russo earlier, it was likely the newborn would have survived.
Speaking one month on from the Inquest, Mrs Russo tell us "you think you are going to get some sort of relief from the conclusion, but it just gets worse.
"This happened and it feels like no one is doing anything. It feels like it's all on me.
Mrs Russo said she lost her job of 10 years and did not leave the house for four months in the aftermath of her daughter's death.
When asked whether she thinks the hospital will follow the coroner's recommendations and the Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Mrs Russo said: "No, I have no hope for that hospital."
"Low risk pregnancies, like mine, actually I think are of the highest risk. Because doctors aren't going to look after you."
Subsequent to the Inquest, the coroner warned Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust to make urgent changes.
Sharon McNally, chief nurse and deputy chief executive at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT), said: “We offer our deepest condolences to baby Emmy’s family on their sad loss.
“The safety of women, babies and families when receiving maternity care is our absolute priority and we ensure that learning from any incident is part of our focus on continuous improvement.
This has included reviewing the information provided to women and families regarding induction of labour and embedding the use of escalation tools, in line with the Coroner’s findings.”
The Trust add it is actively reviewing and further refining embedding processes for escalation of concerns during the maternity journey.
It is finalising its response to the Regulation Report to return to the Coroner by 14 July.