A CORONER has called for medics to give parents with sick babies better NHS support after hearing of a one-year-old tot’s death from dehydration.

Southend coroner Yvonne Blake said she planned to raise her concerns with Southend Hospital after Ben Claydon, of Kursaal Way, Southend, died because his body had been deprived of fluids.

An inquest into the tragedy heard Ben was being fed through a gastric nasal tube, but his parents were never told they needed to give him extra fluids.

He was born prematurely at just 26 weeks and suffered a range of health problems, including cerebral palsy and short bowel syndrome, the inquest was told.

Days before his death, he had suffered an infection which made him vomit severely and meant his small body lost fluids and became dehydrated.

His feeding tube ensured he got protein and nutrients, but his parents had not been told they also needed to give him water as well.

The inquest heard his feeding tube had been replaced by a community nurse the day before he was found dead in his cot, July 20, 2010. However, the nurse had raised no concerns with his mother, Natasha Clayden, 29.

The coroner said she would write to Southend Hospital to ask professionals to give better advice and support to families to ensure babies such as Ben got enough fluids.

Dr Liina Kiho,a paediatric pathologist at London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, carried out a post-mortem examination on Ben.

She told the inques the found he had extremely high levels of salt in Ben’s body because of his dehydration.

She said it was crucial for hospital staff to stress to parents the importance of giving their children water as well as their tube feed – especially if they had been particularly unwell.

She added: “If there is anything in a child’s condition which means they are going to lose fluids, which adds to an already vulnerable baby, it should really be taken very seriously. It can be a big challenge for a family to have a child with serious medical issues who require nasal gastric feeding.

“It comes down to the fact the child needs to be monitored by the parents regularly and they need to know how to recognise signs of fluid loss and dehydration and notice the significance of the condition.”

An inquest was opened and adjourned ten days after Ben’s death and resumed last week once all the evidence in the case had been assembled.

Recording a narrative verdict for his death, Mrs Blake said: “Ben was a very premature baby, with numerous medical problems.

He became unwell through dehydration and this, combined with his medical conditions contributed to his death.”