Doctor did not heed call to get consultant

A verdict of medical misadventure has been returned into the death of a stillborn baby who died in the womb a day after her concerned mother was sent home from the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise, having been told everything was all right.

A lawyer for the parents of the dead baby who called for the misadventure verdict said the word “misadventure” meant “mistake” without fault and the verdict would help prevent avoidable deaths of babies in the future.

The two-day hearing in Limerick heard baby Mary Kate Kelly would have been saved if a registrar doctor at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise had acted on a electronic (CTG) test on the baby’s heart.