'It's all she wanted, to be a mother', Laura Liston's grieving husband tells coroner's court in Limerick

Fergal Mannion recalled how his late wife held their son for a few minutes with 'tears of joy in her eyes', before she 'fainted and dropped the baby in the birthing pool'

Solicitor Scarlett Griffin O'Sullivan, third from left, joins Laura Liston's husband Fergal Mannion, parents John and Fiona Liston, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah, at the courthouse after the verdict was given at the inquest into the death of Laura Liston  who died after a homebirth in June 2022. Picture: Larry Cummins

Every day brings constant reminders and fresh heartbreak for Fergal Mannion, a hushed coroner's court heard, as he described the pain of losing his wife Laura Liston on what should have been the happiest occasion of their lives, the birth of their son.

Emotions ran high in the Coroner’s Court in Kilmallock as it heard how Ms Liston, who died after giving birth at home, was “let down the one time she needed it”.