‘Let our little girl, Mary Kate, be the last to die like this’
Oliver Kelly and Amy Delahunt were speaking after a two-day inquest in Limerick into the death of Mary Kate in May 2013.
Amy was sent home from the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise when a CTG scan showed a problem which a doctor failed to act on.
She was told everything was OK and the following day Mary Kate died in her womb at nearly 35 weeks.
The inquest heard how Mary Kate could have been saved if the doctor had called in the on-duty consultant at the maternity unit that day. A midwife told how she requested the doctor to alert the consultant, but he failed to do so.
Amy Delahunt, a teacher from Borrisoleigh, Co Tipperary, said the medical misadventure verdict acknowledged that, but for errors, Mary Kate would be here today.
She said: “All we can hope for now is that her little life will be a game changer in making all maternity services in the country safe.”
Amy recalled the joy she and Oliver shared with their families on Christmas Day 2012 when she announced they were expecting a baby after years of trying to start a family.
“There’s no Santa Claus coming to our house this Christmas, sadly.
“Today because of the verdict and the inquest is finished we can have some closure and know the truth is out and the doctor and the midwife told the truth,” she said.
“They held their hands up and were accountable and we can draw a line and try to move on with our lives.”
Ms Delahunt, speaking to reporters after the hearing, said they found the HSE very reactive rather than being proactive in dealing with the tragedy.
“We have had to make phone calls we have had to send emails, we have had to arrange meetings off our own bat. No one has come to us to do this. We would like to see more proactive action by the HSE in the future”
Oliver Kelly said the HSE had multiple chances to make changes after four previous baby deaths at Portlaoise where there were common CTG scan issues.
“Now is the time to learn. Let our little girl be the last. Let no more families go through what we have had to go through. Going through the trauma of an inquest to get the truth has made the grieving of our little girl so much more difficult.
“At least today it’s a chapter closed. Unfortunately, it was a very hard chapter to close, but at least now we can put today and what we have learned, and what hopefully they [HSE] have learned, behind us. We have been treated appallingly by the HSE. Openness and honesty is deserved; it’s what patients are entitled to. It’s our lives. It would make it so much easier to grieve and to try and get over it.”
The coroner, John McNamara, said very few words of his could do justice to what Amy Delahunt and Oliver Kelly had endured and suffered and nobody could not but be moved by Ms Delahunt’s evidence.
“I know you will never get over the loss of Mary Kate, and I hope the closure of this inquest can provide some assistance and that lessons will be learned.”
They held their hands up and were accountable and we can draw a lineand try to move on.
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