A baby who was found on the floor underneath his unresponsive mother at Cork University Maternity Hospital has died.
The newborn was critically injured after the woman collapsed in a single room at the hospital on Monday morning.
She was pronounced dead at the scene after staff were unable to revive her.
The newborn was immediately treated but lost his battle for life shortly after 7pm yesterday evening, reports the Irish Independent.
“South South West Hospital wishes to confirm that a baby boy passed away at Cork University Maternity Hospital last evening,” the hospital said in a statement last night.
An investigation into the mother’s death, believed to have been a tragic accident, is now underway at CUMH.
She is understood to have been 36 years old and from Kilmallock in Limerick.
She gave birth to the little boy at the weekend.
It’s reported that she had two other children and that she worked in the bio-pharmaceuticals industry.
One possible line of investigation is that she fell out of bed due to a medical episode.
The baby was found at her breast, suggesting that she was breastfeeding at the time.
Staff had checked on her at around 7am, according to the Irish Times, and saw no sign of anything being wrong.
A post-mortem was carried out on her body at the hospital yesterday but the cause of death is no yet known.
