Overview
- A midwife at the birth, Sasha Field, told the inquest that an ambulance should have been called about 90 minutes before delivery after the baby’s heart rate slowed.
- The coroner suggested the mother should not have been made to give birth at home without the equipment available in hospital.
- Mother Gemma Lomas said she was urged by Edgware Midwives, the designated home‑birth team at Barnet Hospital, to try a vaginal birth after a previous caesarean and was not fully warned of risks.
- Her statement said the newborn was placed on her chest blue and floppy, that midwives reacted slowly, and that the baby later died after transfer to University College Hospital.
- Guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says VBACs should take place in a staffed hospital delivery suite with immediate access to caesarean care, and the inquest has been adjourned for further medical evidence.