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Family of woman who died in labour wins £410,000 payout
24.09.09
The family of a woman who died in labour and never saw the son she had conceived after IVF treatment was awarded £410,000 damages today.
Joanne Lockham, 45, was admitted to Stoke Mandeville hospital, Aylesbury, in October 2007 for the birth of her first child. The decision to perform a Caesarean section was made when the baby's heart rate suddenly dropped.
But the tube meant to provide oxygen for Mrs Lockham, of Wendover, Buckinghamshire, was placed in her oesophagus rather than windpipe.
She was deprived of oxygen for half an hour and suffered cardiac arrest a minute after the delivery of her baby, Finn, who is being brought up by her husband Peter, a 48-year-old builder.
At the High Court, Mr Justice Burnett approved the settlement against Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which admitted liability and apologised at the March inquest into the death.
The judge said: “The settlement is an entirely appropriate one.”
Reader views (4)
Did this very newspaper not report yesterday of the shortage of hospital beds?The hospital was negligent so discipline and/or sack those responsible.The NHS cannot and should not have to pay for shorfalls in income for which any responsible adult should have made provision (unless the outcome was a disability requiring long term specialist care that would have been avoided otherwise).
Sadly many people these days refuse to take our life cover to provide in these cases in the belief that someone else will pick up the tab and this case just serves to affirm that belief.We need an end to the compensation culture and people to take responsibility for themselves.
- Alan., Wimbledon
Do you not think that perhaps the family needs the money to help raise the child as he now only has one parent?
- Karenh, Herts.
Thats all right, they should be able to buy another mother for that. When will people realise that no money on Earth can replace a person. They should give the money to charity it is profiting from death.
- Mary, London
Just how many Intensive Care beds or Special Baby Care cots would that pay for. Family and judge probably in 'funny hand-shake' brigade.
- Blind Pugh, Woking, UK
