Mother’s rare condition overlooked during labour, leading to heartbreaking outcome

In a devastating turn of events, 14-day-old Orlando Davis succumbed to a fatal brain injury, a tragedy profoundly marked by medical oversight. The inquest into his untimely death has shed light on the failure to recognize his mother, Robyn Davis’s rare condition of hyponatraemia during her labour at Worthing Hospital, part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, on September 10, 2021.

Robyn Davis’s anticipation of a low-risk home birth turned into a nightmare when her concerns about her fluid intake and her baby’s position went unheeded by attending midwives. The situation escalated as Davis developed seizures, necessitating an emergency transfer to the hospital, where her condition spiralled into a coma lasting three days.

Coroner Penelope Schofield identified the medical team’s lack of awareness and response to hyponatraemia — a critical electrolyte disturbance — as a pivotal failure. This oversight led to Davis’s seizures, severely compromising oxygen delivery to Orlando before his birth and inflicting irreversible brain damage.

Recording a narrative conclusion, Schofield highlighted the missed opportunities for intervention both during the home birth and subsequent hospital care, emphasizing a nationwide lack of training and awareness regarding hyponatraemia in pregnancy and labour contexts. The coroner’s findings pointed to a stark neglect contributing to Orlando’s death, underscoring the devastating consequences of disregarding patient concerns and symptoms of rare medical conditions.

The heart-wrenching testimony of Robyn Davis at the inquest voiced her unbearable grief and pointed criticism towards the healthcare trust responsible for her and her son’s care. Her account paints a picture of a preventable tragedy, one that starkly underscores the importance of attentive and knowledgeable medical care during childbirth.

In light of Orlando’s death, the coroner called for urgent national attention to the risks of hyponatraemia in pregnant and labouring women, advocating for enhanced professional training to prevent such needless losses in the future. Orlando Davis’s passing serves as a painful reminder of the critical need for medical vigilance and the high stakes of overlooking rare but significant health conditions during childbirth.