Inquest told tests show birth pool baby ?drowned?

By Georgina O'Halloran

FURTHER tests appear to indicate that the death of a baby boy three days after he was delivered by water birth in Cavan General Hospital was caused by "acute near drowning", an inquest has heard.Pathologist, Dr Peter Kelehan told an inquest into the death of Baby Harry Eccles at Dublin City Coroner's Court on Monday that he had carried out new medical tests and that nothing had altered his opinion that the baby had died from an acute near drowning event. Gina Eccles (24) gave birth to Baby Harry in a birthing pool at

the Cavan hospital on February 26, 2006 with the aid of a midwife After birth the baby boy was blue in colour, unresponsive to tactile stimulation and made no efforts to breath on his own. He was immediately ventilated and was transferred to the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin where he died on March 1. At a resumed inquest into the baby's death, Dr Kelehan told the court that Baby Harry died from an acute "near drowning" event due to the aspiration of freshwater. He said that hyponatremia or low sodium levels exhibited by the baby is "a characteristic of freshwater drowning" and there was no evidence of pre-existing disease which might have caused the baby's demise. "I was not able to find any legion which existed before this catastrophic event at the time of the baby's birth," he said. Neuropathologist at Beaumont hospital, Dr Michael Farrell, was also of the opinion that the event occurred at birth, Dr

Kelehan told the court. Consultant neonatologist at the National Maternity hospital, Dr Mathew Thomas told the court that low sodium levels (hyponatremia) is a known complication of water births, which is usually due to the inhalation or ingestion of water. Baby Harry suffered an acute hypoxic insult, he told the

inquest, but he had no idea what caused it. Dr Alan Finan, consultant paediatrician at Cavan General

Hospital, who treated baby Harry three hours after his birth, told the inquest on a previous date

that he believed the baby had experienced a "neurological insult" before delivery. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell

adjourned the inquest to a date in April to allow Counsel for Cavan hospital to consult

expert, Dr Philip Cox on the matter of the new tests. The inquest will also hear details of the protocols and procedures governing midwife led births and water births in place in the Cavan hospital at the time of Baby Eccles's birth, as well as details governing maternal consent.