"Nobody explained to me what was going on."

A Kilkenny hospital has apologised for failings in the care of a newborn baby boy and his mother. Gráinne Somers delivered son Lawrence Somers in St Luke's Hospital via emergency C-section in 2018. The infant died five days later due to birth complications. An autopsy later showed Somers had had a normal pregnancy up until that point. Somers told an inquest this week that she was not informed of her son's condition by the hospital, or told how sick he was following the birth. She also said she was not told that her son had to be resuscitated at birth. RTÉ News reports that Dr Trevor Hayes, then Clinical Lead for Obstetric and Gynaecology Services at St Luke's, has today issued an apology on behalf of the hospital. Dr Hayes, who did not care for Ms Somers during her time in the hospital, added that a consultant now runs the obstetric assessment unit. A consultant was on call at the time of baby Lawrence's birth but one was not available at the time. Ms Somers previously told the inquiry that she never met with a senior doctor during her care, despite being 11 days overdue. Lawrence Somers passed away following an episode of foetal distress after the emergency C-section. A pathologist told the inquiry that he was also found to have a shortage of oxygen in his blood. Ms Somers said that she attended the hospital 10 days overdue and was surprised to be sent home. She returned the next day when she was in pain and was told that her waters would have to be broken. Ms Somers said that during this time, "nobody explained to me what was going on." “The atmosphere in the room was awful and I’ve never felt so terrified on my own," she said. "I was extremely frightened as I thought at the time that something was wrong but no one would tell me anything." Baby Lawrence was transferred to the Coombe, where he passed away on January 28. The inquiry will continue next week.