Posted 13 December 2022 - 16:06
Posted 13 December 2022 - 16:06
News
Lucy Letby: baby allegedly force-fed ‘additional amounts of milk’
Nurse accused of overfeeding baby girl hours after she helped put up a banner at the Countess of Chester Hospital to mark infant’s 100th day of life
Nurse accused of overfeeding baby girl hours after she helped put up a banner at the Countess of Chester Hospital to mark infant’s 100th day of life
A baby girl allegedly attacked by nurse Lucy Letby was force-fed ‘massive additional amounts of milk’, a court has heard.
Ms Letby is accused of overfeeding the baby girl just hours after she helped put up a banner at the Countess of Chester Hospital to mark the infant’s 100th day of life.
Child G vomited on to the floor, trial hears
Ms Letby is said to have struck some time after 2am on 7 September 2015 while the nurse who was looking after the baby went on an hour-long break after feeding her 45ml of milk via a nasogastric tube.
The baby, referred to as Child G, vomited in her cot, on to the floor and on to a chair several feet away.
Giving evidence at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, expert witness Dr Dewi Evans said: ‘On the whole, when a baby vomits they tend to vomit over their baby grow or over whoever is holding them, but that’s as far as it goes.
‘I can’t recall a baby vomiting as far as the floor, I certainly can’t recall a baby vomiting that distance. It is quite extraordinary, there is something very, very unusual going on for (Child G) to throw up in this way.
‘There can be only one explanation. [Child G] received far more than 45ml (of milk) down her nasal tube before she vomited.
“She may also have received a bolus of air from the feeding syringe. Milk was squirted down the tube using the syringe and this would have caused the abdomen distention, caused the baby distress and she would have vomited.’
Paediatrician tells court that Child G developed an infection after her initial collapse
Retired consultant paediatrician Dr Evans said that, in his opinion, Child G’s stomach was empty prior to her 2am feed.
Shortly after the vomiting episode, the court heard that Ms Letby noted she had withdrawn 45ml of milk, together with ‘air++’, from Child G’s stomach.
Medics placed Child G on a ventilator following her collapse, but her oxygen levels and heart rate dropped at various intervals over the following hours.
Dr Evans said that was due to the splintering of her diaphragm, which led to prolonged oxygen deprivation and as a result she suffered irreversible brain damage.
In the early hours of 8 September, Child G was moved to Wirral’s Arrowe Park Hospital with suspected sepsis. Dr Evans told the court he believed that Child G developed an infection after her initial collapse.
Projectile vomiting episode was ‘concerning’, expert witness tells court
Fellow expert witness, neonatologist Dr Sandie Bohin, said the projectile vomiting episode was ‘concerning’.
She said: ‘In my experience I have not seen babies of two kilos projectile vomit. For me that was something quite extraordinary.’
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC asked: ‘Is there a credible or innocent explanation for there being more than 45ml in her stomach?’
Dr Bohin replied: ‘No. I think her stomach was empty prior to that 2am feed… the only possible explanation is that she was given an excessive amount of milk, plus air probably, which caused her stomach to distend and caused her to vomit.’
Asked about Ms Letby’s explanation in police interview that babies can take in a lot of air when vomiting, Dr Bohin said: ‘That’s not correct. Babies do not take in air when vomiting. If you are vomiting, things are coming out not coming in.’
The prosecution allege Ms Letby made two more attempts to murder Child G on 21 September – after she had been transferred back from Arrowe Park.
Ms Letby denies murdering seven babies and the attempted murders of ten others between June 2015 and June 2016.
The trial continues.
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