Hospital finally admits 'deficit in care' after forceps used during delivery crush newborn's skull

Parents of a newborn baby, who died hours after his birth, have finally received an apology from the hospital responsible for the accident that took place five years ago. Fiona Tuite and Ivan Murphy have been fighting a case against the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Ireland, since 2012, after their baby's head was crushed by a pair of forceps that were used during the delivery.

On 19 January, defence lawyers read a statement in the High Court in which the hospital expressed "sincere and heartfelt sympathy" for the family and admitted "deficit in care".

Up until November 2016, the institution had denied any liability in the death of Evan, despite a post-mortem indicating severe external and internal cranial brain trauma as the cause of death. At the time, the hospital claimed that the baby was suffering from a brittle bone disease.

It was later identified that the fractures were caused by excessive force by the junior doctor while using forceps to deliver the child. Evan died hours after his birth on 14 June 2012.

Details of the case were made public after the parents settled their lawsuits against the hospital. According to RTE, the parents and the baby's brother were awarded €25,000 to be divided among them.

"It has completely ruined my life. I will never ever be the same again," Tuite told the Irish Mirror. "His injuries were so bad that they insisted on putting a little hat on him. I couldn't even show you some of the photos we have of him, they are just too upsetting."

She described the delivery scene as a "bloodbath" and said that it was worse than a horror film.

"When he eventually came out he was flopped on to me for a second before they then had to rush off with him. Evan was very lifeless."

The infant's father, Murphy said they had also requested an inquest into Evan's death.

"It took the hospital five years to admit liability. Why did the hospital deliberately choose to prolong our suffering? I would like to see the person responsible for this decision held accountable," he told reporters outside the court house.

"We are meant to put our confidence and trust into these people but they let us down in the worst possible way with the loss of our son.

"This should have been and could have been avoided. We still have not had an inquest into Evan's death and we can't understand why this has not yet happened," he added.

This is not the first time Our Lady of Lourdes hospital has faced a lawsuit involving cranial damage from use of forceps, Independent Ireland reported. In 2011, Milagros Martin suffered skull fractures; and while she survived, she developed cerebral palsy.

The hospital settled the lawsuit with a payment of €1.9 million and issued an apology in 2015.