A COURT has heard a mum was ignored after reporting being in pain and vomiting during the induced birth of her son who died at just four days old.

Jac Arthur Lewis was born following an emergency caesarean operation at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran in November 2024.

An inquest, scheduled for four days, has opened at Newport Coroner’s Court into the child’s death, and examining the care his mother Ceri Lewis received when she attended for the pre-planned induced birth. The pregnancy was considered high risk as Mrs Lewis has type two diabetes and suffered two previous miscarriages.

In a statement, read by Gwent area coroner Rose Farmer, Mrs Lewis said she had attended for the hospital appointment at 11.30am on November 1 with her husband Matthew.

She received a pessary insertion, intended to start her labour, at 1.10pm but had started vomiting at around 5.30pm, half an hour after being given codeine for pain having also been given paracetamol just before 2pm.

At 6.30pm Ms Lewis said she’d told a midwife she was in “extreme pain” and couldn’t pass urine and she said she was still in a lot of pain an hour later. Then 15 minutes later she told a midwife she was in so much pain she wouldn’t know whether or not her baby was moving.

After being given a sickness injection at 9pm Ms Lewis said she remembers a midwife pushing a bell and shouting for help before she was pushed out on a bed and waking up with “nurses not comforting but staring at me”.

The emergency caesarean was performed at 9.30pm and baby Jac was born with a low heart rate, of just 60 beats per minute and was pale and had two be twice resuscitated.

In the early hours of the following morning Mrs Lewis said another midwife, Dianne Jayne Morgan, said her waters had broken, which the mother said wasn’t correct.

Mrs Lewis said she had also been upset by the midwife: “She asked had I been asked to check the baby’s heart rate. That really upset me and I felt as if I was being blamed and my mum jumped in and said that was their job, not mine.

“I felt there was no compassion or sympathy. Dianne Jayne Morgan said ‘check the NICE guidelines, we haven’t done anything wrong’.”

Mrs Lewis said she had written notes after arriving home and said staff hadn’t responded to her, or husband Matthew when they reported she was in pain.

She said: “I felt incredibly let down. Staff showed no care for me or my first child.

“We were told pain was normal and made to feel like we were making a big fuss about nothing. If they had listened, instead of ignoring my requests for help, it’s possible Jac would still be alive today.”

In her statement Mrs Lewis said she also wanted to note the “incredible” care from doctors and nurses on the ward that cared for Jac following his birth.

In his statement, also read by Ms Farmer, Matthew Lewis said he’d been called back to the hospital shortly after 9pm but only learned the extent of the complications when he overheard nurses talking outside his wife’s room.

He said when midwife Ms Morgan came into the room to speak to him, his wife and her mother “it was clear mistakes had been made as she kept repeating ‘we’ve done nothing wrong’ and I felt she was trying to put words in Ceri’s mouth. We were all trying to come to terms with what happened and I couldn’t believe how she was treating us.”

Ms Morgan gave evidence during the hearing and said she was confident where she had noted Mrs Lewis had said she’d suffered “period type pains” this was due to her having reported them, despite Mrs Lewis having disputed using the term “period pains”.

The midwife of 35 years experience said she was “adamant” about using “patients’ own words” in her reports. She wasn’t questioned about her comments to Mrs Lewis following the birth.

Three other midwives who cared for Mrs Lewis from her arrival at the appointment until she was rushed into theatre also gave evidence and outlined their actions but said they weren’t aware Mrs Lewis was in “severe” pain.

They were questioned about procedures including how and when they would listen for a baby’s heartbeat and why that wasn’t done until gone 9pm following the initial 30 minute assessment at the start of the procedure at 1.10pm.

The hearing was also told though NICE, which issues guidance to the NHS, only states EGC heart monitoring is only required every 12 hours the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board which runs the Grange has since issued updated guidance to do so every six hours in high risk pregnancies.

The hearing continues.