Hospital investigation
According to law, the death of babies is of course treated in the same way as the death of anyone else and therefore if it is that the doctors can certify the death as being natural there is no reason why the death should be brought within the ambit of the coroner.
However, many feel it would be helpful if the death of all children, particularly very young children and babies, could be reported to the coroner so that we had a consistent overview of what was happening.
John Pollard, who is coroner for Stockport and South Manchester and held the inquests into the victims of Harold Shipman, has asked that he is notified of all deaths of babies and young children in his area.
When he is informed of a death his officers carry out an investigation at the hospital concerned. They interview the family and staff and gather evidence.
Mr. Pollard said only a minority of coroners are carrying out a similar policy principally because there is no legal basis to force the doctors to report these deaths.
'Deaths missed'
Unnatural deaths may be missed in areas where the coroner has not been informed.
One of the main drivers is to prevent future deaths occurring in similar circumstances. If people, specifically doctors can learn from what has happened then further deaths can be prevented.
Sadly there could be a repetition of the type of deaths we are talking about if each case is not investigated.
The Coroners Society, which represents all coroners in England and Wales, said in a statement said that it is up to each individual coroner to decide how to interpret the law on a case-by-case basis. It said it was not within its authority to direct coroners to follow a particular practice.
Some parents however, claim they have to fight to get a satisfactory explanation to find out about their baby's death.
Rachel and Chris Spencer's baby, Rose, was still born due to a placental abruption last October. The Spencer's grief has been compounded by the battle they have had to find out what happened on the night Rose died. Rachel had reported an unusual pain whilst in early labour, but the medical team said she was fine and told her to go home.
When she returned to the hospital a few hours later, it was then found out that her baby had passed.
Stoke Mandeville hospital have apologised to the Spencer’s for the standard of care they received. They say they have a well established method of case review and insist nothing they could have done would have changed the outcome for Rachel's baby.
Read the full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8709712.stm.
Source and thanks to news.bbc.co.uk.
