A sobbing mother begged medics “please don’t let my baby die” as they tried to resuscitate him, the trial of Lucy Letby has heard.
Letby, a 32-year-old nurse, is accused of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of 10 others while working in the neo-natal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Jurors at Manchester Crown Court have started hearing evidence about her first two alleged victims in June 2015 – twins who suffered sudden collapses in their incubators.
Letby is said to have fatally injected an excess amount of air into the bloodstream of Child A, and then attempted to murder his sister, Child B, in the same way.
The parents have both revealed their distress at never being able to hold their son during his short life.
The court heard they were watching TV in a side room the night after the twins were born when a nurse told them: “You need to come quick.”
In a witness statement, Child A’s mother said: “All I can remember is being wheeled into a room and it felt like hundreds of people were standing over his cot and trying to resuscitate him.
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“A nurse asked if I was religious and if I wanted them to say a prayer.”
Child A’s grandmother also recalled: “The minute I went into that room and saw the baby boy I knew he was gone. He was blue.
“The room seemed full of medical staff. (Child A’s mother) was sobbing uncontrollably at this point. She said ‘please don’t let my baby die, please don’t let my baby die’.
“(Child A’s father) was in shock. He was like a statue and didn’t say a word.”
After they were told that Child A would have brain damage and further complications if he survived, she said she told her daughter “You need to let him go”.
Child A’s father said to his partner “something along the lines of ‘we have to let him go, he is not there anymore’.”
The nursing care of Child A had been handed over to Letby shortly before his collapse, the court heard.
Child B collapsed on the following night shift when Letby was again on duty, the jury was told.
Following the death of Child A, her mother said she was “frantic, anxious and extremely upset” and didn’t want to let Child B out of her sight.
She and her partner were eventually persuaded by nursing staff to get some rest, the court heard.
But then a nurse returned telling them again: “You need to come now”.
The mother said: “My heart sank. Not my baby. Not again.”
After rushing to the neo-natal unit, a nurse told them Child B had stabilised following a “very similar situation” to Child A with a rapid fall in heart rate and oxygen levels, the court was told.
Her skin was also discoloured and mottled, which a consultant said they had never seen before, the jury heard.
Child B was discharged in July 2015 and does not appear to have suffered any adverse consequences from her collapse, the court heard.
Letby, originally from Hereford, denies all the offences which are said to have been committed between June 2015 and June 2016.
The trial continues.
