Serious operational and systemic failures contributed to the death of an 18 year old prisoner’s full term baby who was born without medical help, a coroner has concluded.
Richard Travers, senior coroner for Surrey, said baby Aisha Cleary “arrived in the world in the most harrowing of circumstances” when her mother, Rianna Cleary, was left to give birth alone in her prison cell. The baby, who was born and died during the night of 26 September 2019, was “delivered in a prison cell without medical assistance, losing the chance of resuscitation and survival,” he added.
The coroner strongly criticised both the prison and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which was providing maternity care. …