Overview
- A senior midwifery expert told Rochdale Coroner's Court that meaningful discussions about the risks of a home delivery did not occur and said Jennifer Cahill should have been clearly advised she was high‑risk, including the possibility of death.
- A close friend testified that Cahill initially assumed she was high‑risk but came to believe she was low‑risk after a consultant visit, adding that Cahill thought home birth might reduce bleeding.
- The inquest heard that records from Cahill’s first birth were not migrated to the current system, leaving midwives without exact blood‑loss data, and the trust accepted she should have been referred to a senior midwife for risk counseling.
- Evidence highlighted missing or late-entered observations, an abnormal blood‑pressure reading not promptly rechecked, lost handwritten notes, and a poorly prepared resuscitation setup in a darkened room at the home.
- Earlier expert testimony said outcomes might have been different with hospital transfer before delivery, as a paramedic described an “impossible” triage choice to prioritize the unresponsive newborn, who died from hypoxia; Cahill died after a severe postpartum haemorrhage and cardiac arrest.