New mum let down by those supposed to care for her

A coroner has severly criticised mental health professionals for their failure to properly care for a woman who jumped to her death with her new-born baby.

The bodies of Charlotte Bevan and her daughter were discovered at the bottom of cliffs in Bristol in December 2014, after staff failed to spot them leaving hospital.

This CCTV shows Charlotte Bevan walking out of St Michael's Hospital on a cold December night in 2014 with her four-day-old daughter Zaani Tiana - wearing a thin pair of slippers. She passes staff at the vending machine on her way out.

Charlotte Bevan went straight to the Avon Gorge near the Clifton Suspension Bridge and she and her newborn fell to their deaths.

The 30-year-old suffered from schizophrenia. She had a long history of mental illness and had been sectioned four times.

The inquest into their deaths heard that in the weeks running up to the deaths, Ms Bevan had stopped taking her anti-psychotic medication.

The coroner, Maria Voisin, said there had been a "chain of failings" in the run-up to the tragedy.

She recorded a narrative conclusion and said officials should have organised a multi-disciplinary meeting, and that a proper care plan post-birth had not been put in place.

Mrs Voisin also said she would be making a Prevention of Further Deaths Order -and would write to NHS England about the provisions to mental health services for pregnant women.

Charlotte Bevan's mother, Rachel Fortune, who has lost not only her daughter but her grand daughter, today used the opportunity to make a heartfelt plea for change. She called for a new unit for mothers and mothers-to-be with mental health problems.

Health managers have offered their deepest condolences to Ms Bevan's family.

A joint statement by NHS England, Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group, University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust says: