A FOUR-DAY-OLD baby died of a brain injury after a transfer to a specialised neurological unit was delayed by more than three hours, an inquest heard today (Jan 15).

Vincent Rewers was born on October 4 in 2012 at Darent Valley Hospital but died four days later after suffering numerous seizures and a severe bleed on the brain.

Parents Louis Rogers, 29, and Karolina Rewers, 23, from Gravesend, were told doctors decided the newborn infant needed an urgent CT scan.

The scan showed a large hemorrhage and bleeding on the left-hand side of the brain and a transfer to King’s College Hospital in London was ordered.

Consultant paediatrician Dr Abdul Hasib took over Vincent’s care on October 5 after the infant began fitting.

Dr Hasib told the inquest: “Unfortunately, Vincent was not going to survive in this instance.”

Despite the “very poor prognosis”, Dr Hasib contacted three transport teams between 5.30pm and 9pm - Medway Neonatal Transport Team, Kent Neonatal Transport Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service - to transport Vincent to King’s College Hospital.

However, due to other emergencies and a lack of facilities to safely transport Vincent with his incubator, the transfer was not possible until 9.50pm.

Dr Hasib said later that night he received a call from doctors at King’s College Hospital saying he they would be withdrawing care as the bleeding was extensive.

He explained the “considerable delay” in transporting Vincent would not have saved his life.

He said: “It would not have made any difference. There was nothing to be done.”

Clinical gynecological registrar Dr Grace Asante-Duah told the court she opted for a ventouse delivery method, in which a vacuum device is used to assist the birthing process, after complications during labour.

She told the court it was “an easy and straight-forward delivery” and Vincent was born weighing only 2.14kg.

Pathologist Dr Liina Kiho determined the cause of death to be an hypoxic ischaemic brain injury and a left-sided subdural haematoma after an autopsy at Great Ormond Street Hospital on October 11, 2012.

The inquest, at Gravesend’s Old Town Hall, continues.