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Baby, Nixon Tonkin, never breathed on his own and died shortly after being delivered. His story is beyond heartbreaking.

Baby, Nixon Tonkin, died shortly after being delivered at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in June 2014 at 38 weeks’ gestation, reports 7 news.

A coronial inquest will investigate what could have been done to prevent Nixon’s death.

Brisbane Coroner’s Court heard the decision to deliver Nixon via caesarean section was made after his mother Simone was diagnosed with obstructed labour, partly caused by the baby’s large size.

During the procedure a midwife pushed two fingers on Nixon’s head through the vagina in an attempt to remove his head from the pelvis.

Thirty minutes after he was delivered, Nixon died from significant head injuries including skull fractures, haemorrhages and brain swelling, likely caused by the excessively focused pressure of the midwife’s fingers.

An independent expert report into Nixon’s death found the midwife’s action was an understandable response to an emergency situation, not from any careless or negligent attitude.

Applying such upward pressure to a baby’s head didn’t usually cause such catastrophic injuries but cases had been reported, the court heard.

RIP little man. Such a heartbreaking outcome.

UPDATE 24 April

A touching image has been shared of baby Nixon and his daddy as he cradles the body of his precious newborn son.

The heart-wrenching image of Marty, holding his baby boy was posted to Instagram by family friend, Simone Valentine, who is fundraising to financially support the grieving family, reports 7 news.

“Meet Marty,” she wrote. “Strongest man I’ve met – Emotionally.”

“Carried Nixon’s casket in at his service and how he made his legs move with the soul breaking task ahead is seriously a moment I personally Will Never Forget (sic).”

Ms Valentine hoped the intensely poignant image would reveal a little about the “gentle souled” father who “works endlessly at his family business”.

“We are doing this for a gorgeous family who need a hand,” she wrote.

Meet Marty he is Nixon’s Dad – Gentle souled, Loves his Family, Is Simone’s Loving Husband, Daddy to Nixon & now sweet Knox (2). Strongest man I’ve met – Emotionally. Carried Nixon’s casket in at his service and how he made his legs move with the soul breaking task ahead is seriously a moment I personally Will Never Forget. He works endlessly at his family business, supports Sim, is a wonderful Dad, & to his friends a great mate. I just thought you should know a little about him & how much of a relief and load of his shoulders it will be when we hit this target and he can start to slow a little, catch his breath and let us have his back for a little. Please Donate What You Can & SHARE far and wide. A HUGE Thank you to those who have Shared, Donated and held them in their heart.. We can do this, We are doing this for a Gorgeous Family who need a hand <3 https://www.mycause.com.au/page/148279/in-memory-of-nixon-martin-tonkin

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  • So tragic.
    We tend to think that having babies is easy but its not all smooth sailing all the time. Sadly babies die and so do Mums.

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  • Why wasn’t a doctor there for the birth. I’m so sorry for your loss. RIP baby Nixon

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  • That is so sad. My heart goes out to the lovely mum. It may have been better for the midwife to call in a specialist as soon as she suspected obstructed labour. That is what I would have done. Then the situation would have been in the hands of an expert. Don’t get me wrong midwives do a great job but they cannot take the place of an experienced obstetrician.

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  • How awful, and not just for the mother- that midwife will have to live with that for the rest of her life and it was just a horrible accident.

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  • my heart goes out to this mother & her family I also lost a full term child it’s something you dont really get over.

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  • Oh now, this is so terribly tragic. I can absolutey understand that answers need to be provided. My thoughts go out to the Mum and Dad. Just so sad.

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  • Banning pools is not the answer, parents & carers should do a first aid course to learn how to resuscitate a child. Better supervision is vital if you have a pool because kids are resourceful & will use anything they can to climb the fence, make sure nothing is in the area that they could use. A friend of mine left her toddler with grandma for the day while she went to work & she went inside to answer the phone leaving the child in the back yard, she became distracted for a short time by the call & when she went back outside the child had disappeared. The toddler opened the garage door which was not locked then was able to open the other door to the pool area, again not locked! The grandmother had no idea she was in the pool because over winter they let it go green so she couldn’t see into it. Thinking that the pool was inaccessible she looked elsewhere & couldn’t find her so called the Police thinking that she had wandered off & when they arrived they decided the pool was the most obvious place to look so they had to drain it due to it being so dirty. By the time they found her she was already deceased.
    This happened 24 years ago & it is still etched clearly in my mind because this child did not need to die if she had been supervised.
    This death could have been avoided if….
    1. The fence & gates were secured
    2. The toddler should have had swimming lessons
    3. 100% attention from the person caring for her.
    4. Pool alarm & cover.

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  • Oh gosh this is just tragic, so so sad. RIP little one.

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  • My thoughts are with the mother,very sad indeed.

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  • How awful for the family and for the midwife ! My thoughts go out to them

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  • Devastating for all involved. My thoughts go out to the parents.

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  • What a devastating thing to happen – condolences to the family and to the midwife. No-one is at fault here – just an awful set of circumstances.

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  • Presumably the midwife did as instructed. Obviously the baby’s head was stuck. It may have already been damaged prior to the midwife’s actions. Who knows? If the baby had been pulled up towards the incision the baby’s neck or/and spine may have been fractured.

    Reply

  • What a catch 22 situation! My heart goes out to all parties involved.

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  • Oh how horrible for that family and that team of doctors and nurses

    Reply

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