Death of newborn from severe brain damage remains a mystery, inquest told

Several medical experts gave evidence at Dublin District Coroner’s Court that it was the most unusual case of an infant’s death they had ever come across in their long careers

Kevin and Karen Kennedy, parents of baby Sophie Kennedy, pictured leaving Dublin District Coroner's Court on Wednesday afternoon after the second day of an inquest into the death of their daughter, who died on March 6, 2018, at the National Maternity Hospital. Picture Colin Keegan: Collins Dublin

An inquest has been unable to establish the exact cause of how a baby girl, who showed no warning signs of any life-threatening condition, acquired severe brain damage which resulted in her death within 19 hours of her birth.

The inquiry into the death of Sophie Kennedy, who was born following a “textbook” pregnancy at the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street, Dublin on March 5, 2018, heard the cause of the brain damage suffered by the baby could not be determined.