Mum who died alongside newborn in home birth shared posts about traumatic first delivery
A mum who died the day after giving birth to her daughter at home had previously posted about her traumatic first birth in a hospital.
Jennifer Cahill, 34, gave birth at home in 2024 supported by her husband and two midwives after feeling 'unsupported' during the hospital birth of her son three years earlier.
She explained in posts that during her first birth she had suffered a postpartum haemorrhage which had resulted in her needing a blood transfusion and called it a 'traumatic' experience that had been one of the 'toughest weeks of her life'.
Cahill had explained in December 2023 to a social media group that she was thinking about a home birth and was 'really excited about the possibility', and had asked for any advice people had.
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She had said she was 16 weeks pregnant at this point and wanted 'to arm myself with as much information as possible'.
According to posts in the group reviewed by the Daily Mail, she said in response to another mother: "I've been through this and it was the toughest week of my life in hospital with a poorly baby and the nights on your own are so lonely, I wouldn't wish it on anyone."
The posts explain why Cahill was reluctant to return to hospital, but tragically her home birth ended in both her and her baby's death.
An inquest into Jennifer's death and that of her newborn heard from her husband Rob that the risks of home birth were not fully explained to the couple.
During her second birth her daughter, Agnes Lily, was born not breathing with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck leading a midwife to attempt to resuscitate the baby.
The newborn was rushed to hospital by paramedics who arrived at the scene, with senior paramedic Simon Scroop saying the midwife was struggling to resuscitate the newborn due to a fault with her equipment.
The paramedic said he was able to open the baby's airway and Agnes Lily took her first breath, with the baby and her father then going to hospital in an ambulance.
Scroop said he was unaware that Jennifer was bleeding, with the inquest hearing that the 34-year-old had suffered another postpartum haemorrhage as had occurred in her 'traumatic' first birth.
Emergency medical technician Leah Brennan, who arrived at the house with the paramedics, said the mum had 'looked okay' when they arrived and said Jennifer 'was engaging with us as much as she wanted to'.
While the newborn baby and her dad went to hospital, paramedic Adrian George remained at the house where he explained he saw the mother's condition 'deteriorate' as she became 'lethargic' and lost consciousness while being taken to the ambulance.
One of the midwives later told him she had lost around 'two litres of blood'.
"Ideally, she should have had more observations, but she wanted us to leave her alone. I was comfortable with respecting her wishes to be left alone," the paramedic said of Jennifer's condition.
She suffered a cardiac arrest in the ambulance and died at North Manchester General Hospital of multi-organ failure due to cardiac arrest.
Agnes Lily would live for four more days before dying in hospital, with the baby's cause of death being attributed to hypoxia.
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Joe Harker