A BABY died after his mother suffered a massive rupture to her uterus which was not acted on quickly enough, an inquest ruled.

Henry James Maw was pronounced dead due to perinatal asphyxiation just 50 minutes after he was born by Caesarean section, at Northallerton's Friarage Hospital in 2005.

But because the coroner was not notified of his death at the time, and only in 2016, it has taken 14 years for an inquest to be heard into his death.

His mother, June Hewson, was left in 'unbelievable agony' for four hours – while other mothers-to-be on the labour ward expressed their concern for her - before it was eventually decided by medics her uterus had ruptured and she needed an emergency C-section.

She had labour induced that morning, as she was 12 days overdue, despite higher rupture risks for mothers who had had previous C-sections, as she had.

Her former partner and Henry's father, Jonathan Maw, from Topcliffe, near Thirsk, told the inquest that in her agony Ms Howson was initially told 'not to make a fuss' and to pull herself together.

"That was just wrong," he said.

Other patients were also 'shocked by the noise and distress exhibited by Ms Hewson', the inquest heard.

A midwife suspected a rupture at about 3pm but did not pass the message on to anyone more senior, or act on it, the inquest heard.

A doctor was busy with a footling breech case and was not notified of the midwife's suspicions, but realised Ms Hewson's uterus had ruptured as soon as he saw her, hours later.

Senior coroner Robert Turnbull delivered a narrative verdict, saying: "During the afternoon an impending uterine rupture was suspected but the suspicion... was not effectively communicated so that early intervention didn't occur.

"When the urgency was recognised delays occurred which further compromised the deceased's chances of survival."

Ms Hewson, a hairdresser from Bullamoor Road, Northallerton, told The Northern Echo after the inquest: "I went into hospital trusting that I would come out with a healthy baby and as admitted by staff involved there were failings and substandard care, resulting in me being in unbelievable agony from 15:04 until I had my spinal at 19:25. No one was listening to us."

Despite attempts to resuscitate Henry for 35 minutes, he was pronounced dead within an hour of being born.

Ms Hewson suffered severe health complications in the days following the labour, with her bladder rupturing, meaning she had to be resuscitated, and have an emergency hysterectomy to save her life.

A spokesperson for South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said;

“We want to again express our sincere condolences to the family for the loss of baby Henry and accept the findings of the inquest.

"In 2005, we investigated this incident and took significant steps to address the issues which were highlighted in the inquest.

"Changes and improvements were made to address the concerns that were identified. We again apologise to baby Henry's family for the distress caused to them.”