“Holding our son as he died in our arms, finding the strength to leave him with the midwives and walk out of the hospital with empty arms and broken hearts, is a memory that will haunt us our entire lives,” she said. 

It has been a battle for answers since the moment Oliver died, she said. 

“The loss of a child is not something you can get over, or move on from. It is a lifetime of effort to endure that kind of pain, a deep grief from all the tomorrows you will never share, the future you imagined for your child stolen.” 

Oliver was taken to hospital after being born at the couple’s home on 16 April 2016 at 4.15am. 

Ambulance staff, two midwives and a consultant paediatrician all fought to save him at the home before he was taken into intensive care. 

The family say that the only treatment options discussed with them were whether they wanted Oliver to pass away in their arms or on the ventilator.  

One of the expert reports fought for by the family heavily criticised this approach, saying he fulfilled the criteria for active cooling treatment. 

Questions were also raised about the standard of one of the examinations performed in the months leading up to the birth. 

Oliver presented as a footling breech, which is very rare. 

“In our opinion the independent medical expert reports show that poor decision-making by professionals, lack of proper and basic communication, and the non-existence of relevant policies and procedures regarding withdrawal of care, all resulted in the tragic loss of our son,” Mrs Veron said. 

“We fought for independent medical expert reports to be obtained and have learnt from The Nursing & Midwifery Council, The General Medical Council, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and Leeds Children’s Hospital the answers we have waited for. It was harrowing to learn from each of the reports after Oliver had died that there were potential treatment options following his birth, which were never relayed to us.” 

The couple want Health and Social Care to act to reduce the risk of similar events happening again. 

“Regardless of the outcome of the inquest today, we now have the truth. We shall think of our son and cherish the precious day that we spent with him, and try to leave behind the despair over the battle that has transpired over the last seven and a half years. 

“We take this opportunity to thank our family and close friends for continuing to love and support us during the darkest of our days and endure our company during the soul-searching moments in our lives. We would have been lost without them and appreciate the efforts made in celebrating Oliver’s life with us. We thank Oliver’s siblings Charlotte and Edward for giving us hope and bringing such joy into our lives when we thought there never could be again.” 

The inquest recorded a verdict of death by natural causes, with Judge Perry saying that it was important to note that the inquest was a fact-finding exercise only - it was not his function to attribute blame. 

“This inquiry has taken some seven years to reach today’s point, even with the amount of evidence obtained, it’s difficult for me to envisage how any such process should have taken so long. This must have been a tortuous process for Oliver’s family.” 

After recording the verdict, he said that just because Oliver’s death resulted from unusual circumstances, it does not mean lessons could not and should not be learnt. 

He suggested that policies should be in place that are bespoke to the island and our hospital and the facilities it has. 

It’s understood that a joint MSG/HSC statement will be published shortly.