A FATHER left traumatised by the harrowing ordeal of seeing his wife give birth to their dead son, following medical blunders, has been told he will not receive compensation.

The dreadful realisation that his longed-for son was dead, and witnessing his stillbirth the following day, triggered acute “nervous shock” in Ian Wild, from which he may never fully recover.

Mr Wild, 40, spoke of the devastation he and wife Lisa felt after they went into Southend Hospital, in March 2009, as excited first-time parents, but came away stricken with grief.

The couple had named their son Matthew, the High Court heard.

Southend Hospital admitted liability for Matthew’s death and had already paid £41,000 damages to Mrs Wild for her psychiatric injuries.

Medics failed to spot Matthew’s growth was severely restricted in the womb. Had the danger been spotted earlier, he would probably have been delivered sooner and survived.

However, Judge Michael Kent QC ruled “with reluctance”

that Mr Wild, of Richmond Street, Southend, was not entitled to compensation for his mental torture.

Although he agreed his ruling might appear “arbitrary”, the judge said the law placed tight limits on compensation payouts to “secondary victims”

of negligence.

Struggling to give evidence through his tears, Mr Wild earlier told the judge everything “became a blur” from the moment midwives were unable to find Matthew’s heartbeat.

He told the court he had been “excited, elated and anxious”

at the prospect of becoming a dad for the first time when they went to hospital in March 2009.

After realising their baby had died, he and his distraught wife had told their parents what had happened and went home overnight to prepare themselves for the following day’s procedure.

Judge Kent said the law only allowed compensation to be paid to witnesses of traumatic events in extremely limited circumstances.

He added: “Although Matthew had already died when the awful reality dawned on Mr and Mrs Wild, the agony was not over for them.

“None of that equates to actually witnessing horrific events leading to a death or serious injury.

“The legal authorities have driven me to conclude, with reluctance, Mr Wild cannot on the facts succeed in his claim for damages.”