Everything on this page attributed to the Panel is taken from the International Expert Panel — Summary Report (February 2025), where Baby G is reviewed as “Baby 7”.
The clinical course
Baby G was a female infant born at 23 weeks and 6 days with a birth weight of 535g. She was born in the toilet at Arrowe Park Hospital, after premature rupture of the membranes with suspected chorioamnionitis. She was resuscitated at birth and treated for severe hyaline membrane disease, bilateral pulmonary interstitial emphysema, hyperglycaemia, anaemia and thrombocytopenia. She had a patent ductus arteriosus and mild bilateral dilatation of the cerebral ventricles.
She was transferred to the Countess of Chester Hospital at 34-plus weeks, on Optiflow, and had gastro-oesophageal reflux. At 38-plus weeks she had sudden projectile vomiting, large watery stools and desaturation, followed by apnoea two hours later. Her abdomen was described as purple and distended. She was bagged and intubated, and blood-stained fluid was noted coming up the trachea. She was ventilated, sedated and given antibiotics. Her chest X-ray showed patchy consolidation consistent with chronic lung disease, and her CRP and white cell counts at that point were unremarkable.
She stabilised and was transferred back to Arrowe Park Hospital, where she was ventilated for six days and given antibiotics for a CRP that rose to 218. Blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and respiratory cultures were all negative. She returned to the Countess of Chester Hospital and was discharged home.
The prosecution theory
The Crown’s case was that Baby G was deliberately overfed and had air injected into her stomach through her NG tube, causing the vomiting and the clinical deterioration.
What the Panel found: infection, possibly enterovirus
The Panel’s reading is that Baby G had an infection on the night she vomited. She deteriorated clinically with desaturation and apnoea, and her CRP rose to 218 over the following days — all signs of infection. The Panel notes that it is not uncommon for CRP to climb only after the onset of clinical signs when there is infection, which is why the CRP was unremarkable on the night itself.
She had vomiting and large watery stools, which are common in enterovirus infection. That would explain why the blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and respiratory cultures were all negative for bacteria while the CRP was high at Arrowe Park. She received seven days of antibiotics and recovered after seven days, which the Panel notes is consistent with enterovirus infection, since it is usually a self-limiting disease.
Each prosecution sign, answered
- The large watery stools. Large watery stools are not consistent with overfeeding. They are common in enterovirus infection.
- The purple, distended abdomen. Abdominal distension and discoloration over the abdomen are common when infants are ill with ileus, and they usually disappear when the infant recovers.
- The gaseous distension on X-ray. The abdominal X-rays showing gaseous distension of the intestines were all taken after bag-and-mask ventilation, and are consistent with air introduced by bagging, and with ileus in a sick infant.
- The blood-stained fluid up the trachea. Most likely due to trauma during intubation. The chest X-ray taken after intubation did not show any continuous consolidation suggestive of pneumonia or pulmonary haemorrhage.
The Panel’s conclusions
- Baby G had vomiting and clinical deterioration due to infection, possibly enterovirus.
- There is no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding.
Why this case is important
The chain of reasoning at trial ran from a set of clinical signs — vomiting, a distended abdomen, gas visible on X-ray — back to a deliberate act. The Panel takes the same signs and shows that each has an ordinary explanation in the record itself: the gas on the X-ray post-dates the bagging that introduced it; the abdominal appearance is what an ill infant with ileus looks like; the stools point away from overfeeding rather than towards it; and the CRP of 218 with negative cultures points towards a viral infection.
Baby G recovered and was discharged home. The Panel’s finding is not that the allegation is unproven but that the signs it was built on are signs of infection and of the treatment she received.