Parents speak of baby death heartbreak after hospital failing

Vaida and Aleks Savcak have said they will never recover from what has happened

The parents of a baby who died just 50 minutes after he was born have spoken of their "broken hopes and dreams".

Axwell Savcak died at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary in April 2021.

Although his pre-natal heart rate suggested he was in distress, staff at the hospital failed to identify concerns for two hours.

The trust has admitted "a significant breach of duty", offered its condolences to Axwell's parents and said an investigation was ongoing.

It also conceded that a Caesarean-section delivery should have been carried out earlier, but this was not a contributory factor in his death.

Parents Aleks and Vaida said they will never recover from losing their son.

'Devastating impact'

Mr Savcak said: "You're prepared for your parents to pass away, people get old in the course of life, but you're not prepared to bury your own son.

"We bought the pram, all the furniture, decorated a room for him, but in the end it's just broken hopes and dreams."

Mrs Savcak added: "We loved him so much, we waited for him so much, I can't describe how we felt about him."

She is now 10 week's pregnant but concerned about the outcome.

"I know it's early days yet, but I'm petrified... that we are going to go through the same thing again.

"What we've got now we can't trust the hospital."

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement: "We would like to express our sincere sadness for the loss of Axwell.

"We recognise the devastating impact this will have on Mrs Savcak and the family and offer our deepest condolences.

"As an investigation is still ongoing we are unable to comment any further at this stage."