Coroner calls for more guidance on doulas after baby’s death in Hampshire

Midwives from Queen Alexandra hospital, Portsmouth, felt their access ‘was being restricted by the doula’ in the Hampshire case, the coroner said. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A coroner has warned that more babies could die without greater clarity and guidance over the role of home birthing assistants, after the death of a baby girl raised concerns about a doula delaying access to hospital treatment.

Matilda Pomfret-Thomas died of a brain injury in November 2023, 15 days after her mother had a difficult home labour and was not immediately transferred to hospital despite signs of foetal distress, an inquest concluded last month.