Mum's fury as witnesses miss inquest of baby who died after C-section refused
A mum of a newborn boy who died after she was refused a C-section blasted the NHS for "making a joke of our lives" after key witnesses missed an inquest delayed by four years.
Patryk Bielaszka's life support was turned off at Kings College Hospital in Denmark Hill on November 2 2019, 10 days after his birth at Prince Royal Hospital in Orpington on October 24.
His parents Grzegorz and Barbara pleaded with doctors for an elective caesarean section after a scan in her native Poland suggested there might be a condition which can be fatal for both mum and child at birth. Instead they say NHS doctors ignored them, and blood vessels burst during the labour causing a haemorrhage which starved baby Patryk of oxygen during an emergency C-section.
After waiting four years for an inquest, and beginning civil court proceedings against Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for medical negligence, Patryk's parents appeared by video link at South London Coroner's Court, on Wednesday, but then left in anger when they were told two key witnesses would be unable to make the weeklong hearing.
He suffered severe brain damage during the birth (Supplied)Coroner Edmund Gritt was instructed by NHS legal representative Sarah Mortimer that midwife Olubunmi Adelaja was signed off work sick, while another doctor had moved to Hong Kong - outside the UK's legal jurisdiction. Coroner Gritt said it was "very unlikely" the Chinese government would allow him to call the doctor for evidence.
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Ms Mortimer also said another witness still working at the NHS Trust "might be able to come", then later revealed there had been "some confusion" about the planned appearance of a Dr Lewis who Patryk's parents had named in their written evidence, reported MyLondon.
Coroner Gritt admitted he was "very very reluctant" to adjourn the long awaited inquest in light of the news, but added "given the importance of [Ms Adeleja's] evidence" he was willing to push it back after consulting Patryk's family. But Mrs Bielaszka was furious, and said: "The NHS is making a joke of our life. How come four years later all the professionals are departed?"
Patryk was starved of oxygen when he was born (Supplied)Mr Bielaszka was equally angry and expressed his resentment to the absent hospital employees before announcing the family no longer wanted any part in the inquest. "The hospital has already admitted responsibility in May. We would rather celebrate our child's fourth birthday without this explanation. We have already heard all this and do not want to take part," he added.
In their absence the court heard a written statement from Patryk's parents detailing how Mrs Bielaszka arrived at Princess Royal Hospital on October 23 at around 9:30am when she was given a bed. She was then given medicine to induce the birth at around 5pm and contractions started around two hours later at 7pm.
At this point Mrs Bielaszka said she told a midwife she had a "strong pain in her bottom" and "pressure" but could not feel the baby moving. In response, Patryk's parents recalled: "Midwife said, 'Everything fine mummy?' And did not examine Mrs Bielaszka." She called the midwife again at 10:30pm with the contractions two minutes apart and the pain "very strong".
Doctors ignored pleas from the mum (Supplied)Then at 2am on October 24 Mrs Bielaszka's waters broke. "Mrs Bielaszka told her about pressure and pain. Mrs Bielaszka said she felt something was not right, but told again 'everything okay'," the statement said. At this point Patryk's parents said his heartbeat was not checked and Mrs Bielaszka was given painkillers before falling asleep until the morning.
At 8am Mrs Bielaszka woke up and went to the toilet and noticed there was blood on the sheet and more blood in the special pants she was given to wear. Mr Bielaszka raised the alarm at which point Patryk's parents say they were asked if the birth should continue or go into theatre. After a failed heartbeat test and ultrasound, Mrs Bielaszka underwent an emergency caesarean and Patryk was born at 8:34am.
But Patryk was not breathing when he was born, and his parents were warned the severe brain damage would leave him "stiff, blind, and with all the problems you could imagine". After moving him to Kings College Hospital where MRI scans confirmed their worst fears, Patryk's life support was turned off and he stopped breathing on November 2 at 3am.
Patryk’s parents were furious at the inquest (Supplied)In a second statement, Patryk's parents detailed how they showed scans taken by a doctor in Poland to staff at the NHS Trust but were "ignored". Mrs Bielaszka was diagnosed with gestational diabetes after a glucose test at Princess Royal Hospital, and told the court she agreed to all the available screening tests with the NHS.
She also went to Poland in August 2019 where a doctor who performed scans said her placenta "looked low" and there were signs of vasa praevia, a condition where blood vessels connecting the baby to the placenta do not grow properly and can tear during labour. "I was told I needed to have a C-section or my baby would not survive, I was scared to be told this," Mrs Bielaszka said.
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But when she showed UK doctors a copy of the scans at Kings College Hospital, she claims "they refused to look at the documents I was showing them". "I saw a obstetric consultant on September 3 2019. She said I should have a vaginal birth," Mrs Bielaszka said. She also claimed a Dr Lewis did not refer her for a specialist vaginal inspection, and repeated request to check the scan was ignored.
He lived for just 10 days after he was born (Supplied)Evidence given by Dr Kristen Fielder, the consultant obstetrician gynaecologist who was called to Mrs Bielaszka during the emergency C-section, questioned whether the haemorrhage was caused by vasa praevia after tests showed Patryk was not anaemic after his birth.
"If there was a large amount of bleeding from vasa praevia then the baby's haemoglobin levels should have been very very low," Dr Fielder said. She suggested the blood loss could also have been caused by a placental abruption, or late placental maturation which is associated with gestational diabetes.
She then mentioned a pathologist report which found 2cm of velamentous cord insertion - where vessels from the umbilical cord run unprotected without jelly to the placenta - and her observation that Mrs Bielaszka in fact had a high placenta - both signs she said would exclude vasa praevia.
But the court also heard evidence that the NHS does not regularly screen for vasa praevia, a condition for which accurate tests exist but which is much harder to diagnose after birth. "Vasa praevia is something you diagnose before a baby is being born, it's not something you can diagnose after," Dr Fielder said.
Dr Fielder also told the court if she had seen the Polish scans herself she would "probably have been on the cautious side" and "would expect another scan to be done". She concluded: "I think it's less likely it's vasa praevia bleeding and more likely a major placental abruption. But it's really difficult to speculate."
Lawyers acting for Patryk's family say if they had taken the Polish ultrasound into account, and the findings of the scan on 3 July 2019, then Patryk would have been delivered by planned caesarean section and would still be alive today.
Patryk's parents previously told the Daily Mirror: "Our lives changed forever when our beautiful son passed away in our arms. We still struggle to smile and feel crushed by what happened to him.
We had multiple meetings with different people and instead of taking responsibility they tried to blame me because my English isn't good enough. It's been almost four years since we lost our boy and we haven't even had an inquest. We just want answers and for somebody to take responsibility as in my mind they killed our child."
Nick Leahy, a specialist medical negligence solicitor from Osbornes Law, who represents the family in a civil case against the Trust said: "Having waited nearly four years for this inquest to provide the answers and justice sought by my clients in this tragic case, it is very disappointing to see yet more failures from Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust now the inquest is underway.
"The Trust have made consistent errors and obstructions at every step in this lengthy case, which has caused great distress to my clients. For the Trust to be unable to present key witnesses at this crucial stage in the inquest proceedings simply adds insult to injury. We hope the inquest is able to reach a positive outcome for the family of Patryk Bielaszka, despite the latest setbacks."
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