‘Wake up, it’s baby day’: Mum's heartbreaking find on day she gives birth

“He was let down by the very people who were supposed to care for him,” Rebecca says. Please note: sensitive topics.

It was the day Rebecca and Tom had waited months for, but it will forever be a day tainted with sadness, too.

On 7 June 2023, Rebecca was scheduled to give birth to her first child via C-section. 

In the early hours of the morning, and a few hours before her appointment, she walked downstairs in her Manchester home to let the dog out. 

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Rebecca and Tom were excited to welcome their first child. Picture: Facebook, Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror

“Wake up, it’s baby day!” 

She then made her way to the living room, where she saw her partner, Tom, lying on the couch. 

First thinking the 40-year-old was asleep, she walked closer and tried to wake him up. 

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“I went over to him saying ‘Wake up, it’s baby day,’” she told The Mirror. “He didn’t respond, so I went over to the couch to give him a kiss.” 

When she reached out to him, he was “stiff and cold”; he wasn’t breathing. 

Calling an ambulance, she immediately pulled Tom to the floor and started performing CPR, which she continued until paramedics arrived. 

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“The shock, trauma and not to mention the physical exertion of having to pull Tom off the couch and perform chest compressions at 39 weeks pregnant was overwhelming,” she recalled. 

Devastatingly, Tom couldn’t be saved, dying from cardiac arrest mere hours before he was expected to meet his daughter for the first time. 

Later that morning, Rebecca, still shaken by the sudden and unexpected loss of her partner, made her way to the hospital to give birth to her daughter, Harper. 

“I just felt numb and not really ‘in the room’, but I was adamant I wanted Harper here safely, despite what had happened to Tom,” she said. “She was my priority at that moment in time.

“Once she was born, I was so relieved. It turned the most awful day in my life into the best day of my life.” 

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Rebecca will celebrate Harper's birthday on Friday. Picture: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror

“Tom’s legacy lives through Harper” 

In another devastating blow, a recent inquiry revealed Tom’s death may have been preventable.

A two-day inquest hearing was heard, and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust admitted to negligent medical care when treating Tom. 

The coroner’s report found the 4yo died from cardiac arrest due to myocardial fibrosis, which may have been prevented had his heart defect been flagged by medical staff. 

It was also revealed three weeks before his death, on 18 May, Tom was suffering from a nasty stomach bug, but after a phone call with the doctor, all they recommended was taking an electrolyte drink and rest. 

But nine days later, Tom was still feeling severely unwell, experiencing diarrhea and feeling “generally unwell.” 

Taking himself to the emergency room, Rebecca wrote down Tom’s symptoms to give to the doctor. “Tom was dyslexic and sometimes had trouble articulating himself, so I wrote down a list of symptoms for him to take with him,” she said. 

While at the hospital, he was given an ECG, which displayed a third-degree heart block, a serious abnormality in the heart that can lead to cardiac arrest. 

However, the two doctors who reviewed the ECG missed the blockage, and a cardiologist wasn’t present to review it.  

“When the clinical team assessed him they did not appreciate the ECG showed him to be experiencing complete heart block,” said coroner Christopher Morris. 

“I can’t even begin to fathom what that must have been like for [Rebecca], particularly in the context of what should have been the happiest day for both of them,” he said of Rebecca’s circumstance. 

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This Friday, Rebecca will be celebrating her daughter Harper’s first birthday. Though it’s a day for mourning, the family will honour the day with a party, filled with cake and good memories. 

And although Tom isn’t physically there to celebrate, “his legacy lives on through Harper.” 

“She looks so much like him in her eyes and her smile,” she told The Sun. “I hope she will inherit his kindness too. While Tom isn’t here physically … we will make sure she knows who he was and what a wonderful man her dad was.

One year on from the tragic day, Rebecca wants more to be done to prevent this from happening to another family. 

“It’s important to me that Tom’s story is shared because he deserved to be treated better than he was,” she said. “He was let down by the very people who were supposed to care for him. 

“He deserved better, and I want everyone to know it. I am told that inquests aren’t about blame, but I have every right to be angry and to seek answers for Tom, Harper and our family.” 

Following the inquest, joint group chief medical officer Toli Onon for the Manchester NHS Foundation Trust shared their condolences with Rebecca and the family.

“The Trust has undertaken a thorough investigation to examine the circumstances following Mr Gibson's very sad death, and we apologise for where our care has fallen short of the high standards to which we aspire,” Toli said. 

“We are committed to providing the best care possible for our patients, and we will be reviewing the Coroner's conclusion carefully, to ensure further learning for the Trust is addressed and applied to our constant work to improve our patients' safety, quality of care, and experience.”

Originally published as ‘Wake up, it’s baby day’: Mum's heartbreaking find on day she gives birth