Inquest into the death of a baby who sustained brain and spinal cord damage during birth
17/01/2005
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An Inquest will begin today into the death of a baby boy born at Wordsley Hospital in the West Midlands on 11th February 2004. During a forceps assisted delivery Alexander Clarke sustained a 6cm laceration to his neck. He suffered both brain and spinal cord damage. The Jury Inquest is expected to last 3 days and will be held at Birmingham Coroners Court starting on 17th January 2005 at 10am.
Photograph of the Clarke family - mum Jenny Clarke, dad Simon Clarke holding baby Alexander
Richard Follis of leading health specialists Alexander Harris solicitors will be representing the family at the Inquest: "Alexander's parents, Jenny and Simon Clarke, have been severely traumatised by the events surrounding their son's birth and tragic death. They feel his birth was grossly mismanaged and they question the treatment and care that both Jenny and Alexander received. Alexander showed signs of distress for more than four hours before he was delivered by forceps during which the technique used appears to have caused a severe spinal cord injury."
Alexander's parents and family said:
"The whole family is devastated by what has happened it has had a massive impact on us all. We feel that the treatment that both Jenny and Alexander received at Wordsley hospital was appalling and we are extremely angry that such a tragic thing could have happened in a place where you rely on medical professionals to help and care for you.
Alexander was a normal healthy baby during pregnancy. We all found it very difficult to understand why he was born in such a poor state and unable to breath for himself or to move.
To add to the distress of the situation we believe facts were deliberately concealed from us by Wordsley hospital staff about the cause of Alexander's condition and it was only through our own investigations that we discovered the truth.
We were all looking forward to Alexander's birth and we feel our life with him has been stolen.
We hope the Inquest will be the first steps towards ensuring that those responsible are held accountable for Alexander's death and that such an incident can never happen again."
The family have asked that all media enquiries are made directly to the media department at Alexander Harris solicitors on 08700 77 88 77.
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