Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) has apologised after a mother died when she fell out of a bed while breastfeeding, her newborn son suffocated beneath her. Marie Downey broke her neck in the fall three days after giving birth to her third child, Darragh. The Downey family counsel, Dr John O’Mahony SC, told the High Court this was a profoundly tragic and heartbreaking case. He said that when Ms Downey was removed from the ground in her hospital room her baby was found suffocated. Darragh died the next day at just four days old after suffering an irreversible brain injury, said counsel. The apology came as Ms Downey’s husband, Kieran Downey (40), of Knockanevin, Kilmallock, Limerick, settled a High Court action over the deaths of his wife and son.

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