Northern Ireland mother who contracted Covid tells inquiry she had to wear PPE as baby died
A bereaved mother has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that she had to wear full PPE as her baby son died in her arms hours after he was born during the pandemic.
Catherine Todd said she did not feel safe in hospital in Northern Ireland after contracting Covid while pregnant.
Module three of the inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, is investigating the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems across the UK.
It heard evidence on Wednesday morning from Ms Todd, a member of the Northern Ireland Covid Bereaved Families for Justice group.
Her newborn son Ziggy died in the Ulster Hospital on July 21 2021.
The inquiry was told that Ms Todd was approaching 28 weeks pregnant when she contracted Covid during that month.
She said this led to the cancellation of a routine pregnancy scan.
Ms Todd said she later began to feel unwell and was concerned that her unborn baby was not moving.
She said she called the hospital maternity unit several times and was told to take paracetamol, lie on her side and take a fizzy drink.
She told the inquiry: “They told me they wouldn’t bring me in at the time because they wanted to reduce the risk of spread of Covid.”
Ms Todd said she believed she would have been seen earlier if she did not have Covid.
After her condition worsened, she phoned her GP who told her to attend the hospital’s accident and emergency department.
She told the inquiry that after waiting in A&E for 10 hours, she was moved to the maternity section and an emergency section was carried out amid concerns about a lack of amniotic fluid around the baby.
She said her partner TJ was not allowed to visit her at this time.
When her son Ziggy was born he was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit and placed in an incubator overnight, the inquiry was told.
Counsel to the inquiry Nick Scott asked: “Do you think the fact that you were Covid-positive had anything to do with the amount of information you were given about Ziggy’s condition overnight?”
She said: “Yes, I think they were trying not to come in and out of the room as much as they would have if I wasn’t Covid-positive.”
Ms Todd said she and her partner were brought to see Ziggy the following morning, believing that his condition was improving.
She said: “They took everything off and handed Ziggy over to me and then they just left the room and then he passed away and they didn’t come back for about two hours.”
Mr Scott said: “Was that the first time you had been with Ziggy since he was born?”
She replied: “Yes.”
He added: “Were you having to wear full PPE when you were with him?”
She said: “Yes. We had hairnets, masks, a visor, gloves and shoe coverings.
“I thought that was unnecessary. At the time they knew how unwell he was. I am a bit confused why we were in full PPE.”
Asked about the impact of having to wear the protective gear, Ms Todd said: “All of our photos we have with him are in full PPE.”
Following Ziggy’s death, his body was taken to a hospital in Liverpool for a post-mortem examination.
Ms Todd told the inquiry that for two days before Ziggy’s body arrived at Alder Hey Hospital, she did not know where his remains were.
Mr Scott asked: “When you look back on all of your experiences in July 2021, do you think there were enough staff to treat you at that time?”
She said: “No.”
He said: “Do you think the staff knew how to treat a pregnant woman with Covid back in 2021?
She replied: “No.”
He said: “Did you feel safe as a pregnant lady in Northern Ireland?”
She said: “Not at all, no.”
Referring to the fact that Ms Todd is pregnant again, the barrister asked her if she felt safe as a pregnant lady in Northern Ireland now.
She replied: “No.”
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