A mother who tragically died along with her newborn baby after opting for a home birth against medical advice shouted ‘I am a warrior!’ as she struggled to deliver her daughter, an inquest heard today.
Jennifer Cahill, 34, an international export manager, had made it clear she wanted a completely ‘physiological’ birth for baby Agnes Lily, with no drugs and minimal outside interference.
A midwife who tried to help her in the final stages of labour today told an inquest into their deaths of Mrs Cahill’s haunting plea.
‘She was beating herself up because it was not happening,’ Julie Turner – who has not been able to work since the double tragedy – told an inquest in Rochdale.
‘She was struggling and shouted: “I really want to do this. I am a warrior! Why will my body not let me?”‘
The inquest has also been told that police this week investigated an online group supporting home births after it emerged that Mrs Cahill had been a member.
However it is believed that no further action is being taken against Home Birth Support Group UK after it said it does not offer any medical advice to pregnant mothers.
Mrs Cahill chose to deliver Agnes Lily at home in June last year after feeling ‘unsupported’ in hospital when she had her son three years earlier.
Jennifer Cahill delivered baby Agnes Lily at her home in the presence of her husband Rob and two midwives in June last year (pictured with their son)
Jennifer Cahill, 34, and her newborn baby daughter Agnes Lily both died in June 2024 after she decided on a home birth having felt ‘unsupported’ when her son was delivered in hospital three years earlier
But she became ‘fatigued’ as her contractions intensified, and while both she and her newborn daughter were rushed to hospital, neither could be saved.
Mrs Cahill had suffered a postpartum haemorrhage after the first birth – a potentially fatal condition involving heavy bleeding.
As a result doctors advised to also have her second child in hospital.
However her husband Rob has told the hearing that no-one had fully explained the risks to them.
The couple believed that warnings to have Agnes delivered in hospital were based on the fact that she had suffered a Strep B infection with their son, who developed sepsis, he said.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust has accepted that Mrs Cahill should have been referred to a senior midwife after deciding on a home birth so the dangers could be discussed.
In what midwives who attended the couple’s home in Prestwich, Greater Manchester described as an ‘intense’ birth plan, she had specified that she did not want drugs to help her through labour.
Additionally she wanted physical examinations kept to a minimum, labour to take place in a room illuminated only by tea lights and for the midwives to keep their voices down.
Mr Cahill had to phone for an ambulance in the early hours and accompany his newborn daughter to hospital
Jennifer Cahill had suffered a postpartum haemorrhage after the first birth – a potentially fatal condition involving heavy bleeding
Instead the early hours of June 3 became a scene of chaos as Agnes Lily was born with the cord wrapped around her neck and covered in meconium.
She was rushed to North Manchester General Hospital but died three days later of hypoxia.
Mrs Cahill suffered a post partum haemorrhage again, twice losing significant amounts of blood estimated at around two litres in total.
She was taken to the same hospital with haemorrhagic shock but went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead shortly after admission from multi-organ failure
Today Ms Turner told the inquest that an increasing number of requests by mothers to have out-of-hospital births had made midwives worried about being called out.
She said: ‘There was unease in the office about high risk births. Midwives were getting nervous about being on-call.
‘We seemed to to be getting more women with complex plans.
‘It used to be unusual for high risk women to have a home birth, but in the last couple of years there has been a significant increase.
After being delivered at their home in Prestwich, baby Agnes was rushed to North Manchester General Hospital where both she and her mother Jennifer, 34, tragically died
‘Staff were fearful. It is one of the reasons we now go out in twos so that we can support each other.’
The midwife told how Mrs Cahill had declined a Strep B test and initially refused to have any vaginal examinations.
She said that at 4am Mrs Cahill seemed to be having a normal labour, although it was discovered the bottle and tube delivering gas and air was not working and they had to get new bottles.
Ms Turner said it was difficult to test the equipment in advance because it was in a sterile bag.
But she did accept that record-keeping was flawed, with most of the data missing in the final stages of labour and notes scribbled on pieces of paper.
Mrs Cahill’s blood pressure was high on the last recording, meaning it should have been re-checked within half an hour – possibly giving an indication that mother and baby were in distress.
‘I can’t say we did not carry out another blood pressure check but I accept there is no record,’ Ms Turner said.
The midwife broke down as she recounted how Agnes Lily was struggling to breathe but that an oxygen mask failed, forcing her to resort to mouth to mouth resuscitation.
An investigation has found Agnes’s resuscitation was not within guidelines and national standards.
The hearing continues.
