British actor Jamie King who lost his son five days after his wife’s caesarean says he will not stop fighting for justice, after an inquest found his baby died because the C-section was delayed by 12 hours.
The Tudors and Mad Men actor has urged other parents to take notes throughout childbirth so “no one can twist your story” after saying he believed “covering up mistakes is still a very common practice” in the NHS.
King and his wife, Canadian actress Tamara Podemski, 39, welcomed their son Benjamin to the world in May last year. At the time of Benjamin’s birth, Podemski was already 14 days overdue and was classified as having a high-risk pregnancy. She had been due to undergo a caesarean at 8pm on May 4 last year but that procedure was delayed until 8am the following day after another case was given priority.
Podemski was then rushed back to hospital at 5am the next morning before her scheduled caesarean, experiencing prolonged contractions. Benjamin came into the world just two hours later via emergency c-section, dying five days after the birth.
On Tuesday, Avon Coroner’s Court ruled baby Benjamin was born in “poor condition” and died due to a delay in his delivery at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, England.
Top Comments
Maternal age over 35, significantly past due date, reported symptom of foetal distress….this are all huge alarm bells for this to be treated as an emergency….I would have thought that in Australia, this would have been treated as such in any hospital.
We look to doctors like they are God and hang on their every word. Wrong, use your intuition and ask questions, demand actions. I can't believe in this day and age doctors act blasé resulting in many errors. I know they work long hours, but when a couple in this instance raised concern, their concerns shouldn't have been dismissed.
It may be an issue of resources though. If they have literally only one anaethatist/surgeon/theatre, of course they have to prioritise as appropriate.