Compensation for Welsh couple following baby death

14 Oct 2009

Johanne Rees and her partner Krishna Govekar have received £160,000 in compensation after their son died following delays by staff during his birth at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

Medical staff at the hospital failed to spot that Ms Rees’s unborn baby was in distress, despite her being 32 weeks into a “high risk” pregnancy. A doctor advised her that she was not in labour but that she needed a toilet, leading to delays in the delivery of the baby and irreversible brain damage.

The couple switched off the life support machine for their son, Arun Rees Govekar, after 10 days.

Ms Rees was admitted to hospital in November 2005 with abdominal pains. She had previously suffered a miscarriage and had been under the care of the hospital’s Fetal Medicine Unit after her waters broke at 18 weeks.

Ms Rees, who had suffered an earlier miscarriage, said: “Arun was a precious, much wanted baby. Krishna and I both desperately wanted to start a family together and the plan had always been for me to move out to Goa so that we could be married.

“After the upset of an earlier miscarriage, we were both so thrilled when I became pregnant again.

“Losing Arun has completely devastated us both and it’s difficult to come to terms with his loss even now.”

Guy Forster of Irwin Mitchell represented the couple and said: ““When a baby becomes distressed during labour, every minute is vital and any delay can be potentially fatal.

“Sadly the obstetric staff took more than two hours to decide that a Caesarean section was needed and by the time baby Arun was born, he had been starved of oxygen and had suffered irreversible brain damage.

“For Johanne and Krishna this case has never been about the money but about ensuring that lessons have been learned, as they do not want any other couple to go through the tragedy they have experienced.”

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