Comment Following Inquest Into Death Of Terry Forster

Baby ruptured liver

04/11/2008

A Birmingham inquest has today returned a verdict of death by natural causes following an investigation into how a 13 hour old premature baby died from a ruptured liver.

Commenting on the verdict, the family's solicitor, Caroline Stokes, from the Birmingham office of national law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: "Kerry Morris and Robert Forster have been devastated by the death of their son Terry and are disappointed by the Coroner's verdict today.

"Whilst the inquest established some of the circumstances surrounding Terry's tragic death, many questions remain unanswered and notwithstanding today's verdict, the family intend to pursue legal action against the Trust.

"In particular, Kerry and Robert remain concerned about the decision to deliver Terry at Sandwell Hospital, the competence of the medical staff performing his intubation and reintubation, and the apparent delay in arranging to transfer Terry to Birmingham Children's Hospital for surgery."

Terry Forster was born by caesarean section, 13 weeks prematurely, on 5th July 2007 at Sandwell Hospital and was transferred several hours afterwards to the neonatal unit at Birmingham's City Hospital. It was there that doctors discovered he was suffering from a bleed in his abdomen. The hospital was unable to operate on such a premature baby as the necessary neonatal equipment was only available at Birmingham Children's Hospital. However, by this point baby Terry was too poorly to be transferred.

His parents, Kerry Morris and Robert Forster, from West Bromwich, were told there was no hope of survival. They made the difficult decision to remove Terry from the ventilator and he died shortly after 1.00am on July 6th 2007. At post mortem it was found that Terry's liver had been ruptured.