Inquest touching upon the death of Eddie Cornish

Rachel Segal represented the family in the Inquest touching upon the death of baby Eddie Cornish, who tragically died on 12^th September 2019, just a few hours after being delivered.

The 3-day inquest last week, before His Majesty’s Area Coroner for the County of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, Alison Longhorn, heard that Eddie’s death from perinatal hypoxia was preventable.  Upon questioning the midwife who advised Eddie’s mother during the first telephone triage call she made, it was accepted that the advice given was incorrect, incomplete and too vague. Having considered detailed post mortem evidence from a Consultant Paediatric Pathologist, and a Professor of Neuropathology, in addition to written and oral expert evidence from a Consultant Obstetrician and Consultation Neonatologist, the inquest found that if Eddie’s mother Jade had simply been given the advice she should have been given upon calling the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital Maternity Telephone Triage Service, she would have attended the hospital many hours earlier than she did and Eddie would have survived.

The Coroner delivered a narrative conclusion which recorded as follows:

“The day prior to Eddie’s birth, his mother sought advice from the hospital maternity triage unit, as she was experiencing reduced fetal movements and contractions. The advice she was given was not in accordance with hospital guidelines, and she was not advised to attend hospital if normal fetal movements did not resume within a certain timeframe. She attended hospital almost 10 hours later and fetal distress was evident; it is likely that Eddie had already suffered a chronic partial hypoxic ischaemia. Shortly after admission, the fetal heart rate was lost, and it is likely that at that point an acute hypoxic ischaemia was suffered. Eddie was successfully resuscitated after birth, but his clinical condition was very poor and he died later that day.”

The Coroner heard how, following Eddie’s tragic death, a number of significant improvements had been made to the maternity triage processes and the inquest,  which was formally opened on 16^th April 2020, concluded on 23^rd October 2024, over five years after baby Eddie’s death.  Mrs Longhorn, after having expressed to Eddie’s parents and wider family her sincere condolences, also apologised for the long delay in bringing the matter to a formal conclusion.

To read full article on Devon Live, click here

Rachel was instructed by Claire Leslie, Legal Director at Enable Law, and represented the family pro bono.

Rachel is ranked as a leading junior (Tier 1) for Inquests and Inquiries by the Legal 500 2025. Find out more about Rachel here.