Baby death is 'not suspicious' (From Barry And District News)

Baby death is 'not suspicious'

THE VALE'S main hospital has been rocked by the death of a newborn baby.

Staff working at Llandough's maternity unit, which covers the Vale of Glamorgan, have been stunned by the tragedy which forced them to close their doors to new admissions for two hours.

Concerns arose last week when the hours old infant died and a second child was taken seriously ill.

Checks were immediately made for suspected meningitis as the two cases were initially thought to be linked.

This has been ruled out by hospital sources but further details of the death, and of the second child's condition have not been released.

A NHS Trust spokesman for Llandough Hospital told the News: "We can confirm that a baby has unexpectedly died at Llandough Hospital and the death has been referred to the coroner.

"We are therefore unable to provide any further details."

He added: "The trust wishes to extend its sincere sympathy to the family concerned." The spokesman also confirmed that another baby was ill but at this stage there was absolutely no evidence to suggest the cases were linked.

It was also revealed that the child is currently being treated in the neonatal unit. Neither children could be named for reasons of patient confidentiality.

This week, however, it is business as usual as Llandough maternity unit has now re-opened. Experts have now confirmed that they are not treating the death of the day-old-baby as suspicious.

Llandough maternity unit is seen as one of the best in the area and deals with 2,500 baby deliveries each year and has very few problems on a daily basis.

The hospital itself has grown, from its smaller roots, to become one of the most important centres in the Vale.

Last month, the new diabetic centre and the poisons unit were visited by Sophie Wessex, wife of Prince Edward, when she made a flying visit to Cardiff and the surrounding areas.

Plans were recently revealed to make the hospital more accessible by building a road to cut out the traffic going to main entrance.