A baby girl was born and died in a toilet bowl just one day after her mother had been discharged from the maternity wing of the Mayo General Hospital where she was told she was not in labour, an inquest was told yesterday. The baby was found to have died a short time after its birth from asphyxiation outside of its mother's body,
The baby, Shauna Louise Durcan, was born at 38 weeks to Ms Sandra Kelly early on October 28th last in a house in Ardarra, Sonnagh, Charlestown, Co Mayo. The father of the child, Mr Kevin Durcan, was at the hearing.
In evidence at Swinford Court yesterday, a statement from the mother was read out by East Mayo coroner, Mr Patrick O'Connor. In the statement, Ms Kelly said that on October 26th, 1999, she had been suffering from pain in her right side and back. She went to the bathroom and noticed she was losing water.
"I shouted to Kevin and he rang the doctor. There were three weeks to my due date. The doctor said to go to the hospital . . .
"I was examined by a nurse and she told me I was not in labour and it might be a kidney infection. She examined the baby's heartbeat and said it was going too fast.
"I was kept in overnight and the next morning, a senior doctor said it was fine . . . the doctor said it was a kidney problem. I was not in labour. I was given a prescription for antibiotics . . . I was discharged.
"At 5 p.m. that day I was constantly getting pains and losing water. I went to bed but there was no relief from the pain.
"At about 1.30 a.m. to 2 a.m. on October 28th, I went to the toilet and she was there. I got the shock of my life. I shouted for Kevin, asked will I take her out of the toilet.
"I was very weak. I knew I had passed out. A few times I had felt very, very weak. When Dr McLoughlin came in I know I did pass out . . .
A statement read in court by Dr Gerry Solan, consultant pathologist at the Mayo General Hospital, said the baby's death was shortly after delivery. On examination, he found no marks of trauma to the body.
However, the lungs were partly expanded. He ascertained that the cause of death was asphyxia.
In a second autopsy, he ascertained that asphyxia occurred after extra-uterine existence. The baby would have been viable and expected to survive in normal circumstances, he said.
Mr Pat O'Connor, coroner for East Mayo, confirmed the verdict to be that the child was full term and died from asphyxiation after extra-uterine existence.
Extending sympathy to the bereaved couple, he said: "Clearly, there was some form of misunderstanding. How it arose is not for me to determine . . .
"This is a frightful, dreadful experience. Who can say what effect this trauma will have on you and Mr Durcan? All I can say is you have our deepest sympathy."