A ONE-day-old baby died after he struggled to breathe while being born, an inquest has heard.

Ennis Pecaku was born in Basildon Hospital on September 27 last year, but sadly died the following day in the neonatal ward.

An inquest into Ennis’ death began at Essex Coroner’s Court in Chelmsford yesterday.

Coroner’s officer Kirsty Roberts told the court Ennis was found to be in the breech position in the womb at 34 weeks of pregnancy.

This means he would be born bottom first instead of head first, and an external cephalic version (ECV) was carried out on September 17 to try to turn Ennis in the womb so he would be born headfirst.

However, the procedure was unsuccessful.

Ms Roberts said: “A caesarean section was planned at 39 weeks gestation. Again, they attended the hospital but the procedure was cancelled and postponed until the following week.

“On September 27 Ennis’ mother went into spontaneous labour at home and returned to the hospital.

“She gave birth by vaginal breech delivery. Ennis was born in a poor condition.

“He was transferred to the neonatal care unit, but sadly he died there the next day.

“A post-mortem examination was carried out at St Thomas Hospital, in London, which identified a provisional cause of death as 1a breathing asphyxiation during vaginal breech delivery.”

Dr Rahim Haloob, the gynaecologist who oversaw the ECV, told the court that the procedure has an approximate 50 per cent chance of being successful.

Dr Haloob said that after monitoring the baby following the procedure, it was deemed too risky for a second attempt.

He said: “We have to monitor every baby for around 20 to 30 minutes after the ECV as sometimes they can react badly, and the conditions of the baby mean you can predict whether a second attempt would be worth it or not.

“If the second attempt fails, you’re subjecting the baby and the patient to more stress for no reason.

“There was no consideration in this case for a second attempt.”

The court also heard that if the procedure had been successful, it would have had an impact on whether Ennis survived the birth.

The inquest, which is set to last at coroner’s court until Friday, continues.