{"id":561831,"date":"2026-07-22T03:17:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T03:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/561831\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T03:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T03:17:18","slug":"couple-sue-over-death-of-baby-two-days-after-birth-at-cork-hospital-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/561831\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple sue over death of baby two days after birth at Cork hospital \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple whose baby died two days after he was born at Cork University Maternity Hospital<\/a> has sued the HSE<\/a> in the High Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Baby George Duggan from Cork died in the arms of his parents on December 21st, 2022, and his funeral was held on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

In a letter to George\u2019s parents John and \u00c1ine Duggan of Rathpeacon, Co Cork, which was read to the High Court, the hospital said it wished to \u201capologise sincerely for not performing more frequent foetal monitoring following a review and ultrasound scan on December 8th, 2022\u2033.<\/p>\n

The HSE has admitted it breached its duty of care in not performing more frequent foetal monitoring after \u00c1ine Duggan, the baby\u2019s mother, went for a review and ultrasound scan on December 8th. However, the HSE has denied it caused the death of baby George.<\/p>\n

Patrick Treacy, for the parents, instructed by Cian O\u2019Carroll solicitors, told the court that at the December 8th review, George\u2019s parents were concerned about foetal movement, and that there was no movement from the baby during the scan. Counsel said they were reassured there was no issue of concern. <\/p>\n

The Duggans were given a follow-up date for December 22nd.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they had been told there was an issue with blood flow they would have ensured continuous monitoring would be provided and would not just have gone home,\u201d Treacy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wrongly believed all was well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Counsel said it was their case that if there had been proper and continual assessment after the December 8th review and before December 19th, when \u00c1ine Duggan\u2019s waters broke, a Caesarean would have been performed and the baby would have been better placed and would have survived.<\/p>\n

George was delivered by Caesarean section on December 19th at 29 weeks and three days, but counsel said the delivery was extremely difficult and the baby suffered severe trauma, bruising and subgaleal haemorrhage.<\/p>\n

The Duggan\u2019s case is in relation to the 11-day window after December 8th and before the baby\u2019s birth. Counsel stressed after the birth on December 19th \u201cthe neonatal team at CUMH could not have done more\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the letter of apology signed by the clinical director of CUMH Ireland South Women and Infants Directorate, Dr Mairead O\u2019Riordan, the hospital offered \u201cheartfelt sympathies and deepest condolences to you on the loss of your baby George\u201d.<\/p>\n

It stated: \u201cWe do not underestimate how traumatic this has been for you and your family but please be assured the maternity practices within the hospital are continuously reviewed and strengthened with the ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all patients in our care.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the proceedings it is claimed that there was an alleged failure to deliver the baby by expedited Caesarean section before the rupture of the membranes on December 19th, 2022.<\/p>\n

It is further claimed that had proper investigation or surveillance been carried out in an appropriate or timely manner following the December 8th review, the mother\u2019s worsening placental function would have been identified and she would have been admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n

When the case resumed before Judge Leonie Reynolds in the afternoon, the judge informed the court one of the witnesses was known to her and she could not continue to hear the case. She returned it to the list for the next legal term in October.<\/p>\n

The judge said it was a very sad case and she expressed sympathy to the Duggans on the loss of their firstborn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A couple whose baby died two days after he was born at Cork University Maternity Hospital has sued…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-561831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}