Home / Health / Baby Pippa's Death: Avoidable Delay Blamed
Baby Pippa's Death: Avoidable Delay Blamed
27 Jan
Summary
- Home birth service played 'Russian roulette' with lives.
- Avoidable delay in delivery caused severe brain injury.
- Coroner flags lack of national guidance for home births.
A newborn baby, Pippa Gillibrand, died at 12 days old following an "avoidable delay" in her home birth delivery, an inquest revealed. Her father described the hospital's home birth service as playing "Russian roulette" with patient lives.
The inquest heard that on August 25, 2024, Pippa's mother was in labour, but the home birth team was attending another birth. The coroner noted missed opportunities to advise Mrs. Gillibrand to attend the hospital.
Further missed opportunities occurred when the couple contacted the hospital again. A midwife arrived at their home around 8:15 AM. By 9:36 AM, after monitoring difficulties, a transfer to the hospital should have been initiated.
Delays in monitoring Pippa's heart rate, compounded by staffing issues and non-working laptops, contributed to the tragedy. The coroner concluded that an earlier delivery would likely have prevented Pippa's death.
Pippa was transferred to the hospital and delivered via forceps, but sadly died on September 5 after suffering irreversible brain injury due to oxygen deprivation.
The coroner plans to issue a report highlighting the lack of national guidance for home birth services, noting a similar case from the previous year. The trust has since remodelled its service.
