A dad is warning mums-to-be of the potential dangers of a blood pressure reducing pill after his first daughter was born so severely brain damaged that she did not survive.
Danny Kerr is convinced that a rare reaction to labetolol – given to partner Samantha late on in her pregnancy – had devastating effects on his unborn baby Lexi.
Now he wants to warn other pregnant women so that they do not suffer the same heartache.
Danny, 27, from Berkhamsted, said: “It’s about saying there is a risk with this tablet and it’s not just a tiny thing.
“Check the guidelines, check what other people say and make sure you are not being put in danger. Make sure you go through it with your consultant properly.
“If there is the slightest change in baby’s movements get yourself checked. Most mums won’t make a fuss but it only takes an hour for this tablet to cause a problem.”
First-time mum Samantha’s dosage of labetolol had to be increased to control her blood pressure but within 24 hours of this unborn baby Lexi’s movements had slowed down so much that doctors at Luton and Dunstable Hospital decided to deliver her by emergency Caesarean section.
Lexi had to be resuscitated when she was born and she stopped breathing several times afterwards. She had suffered irreversible brain damage and it was decided to stop intensive care. The family were transferred to Keech Hospice Care – where Danny is now a charity board member – and Lexi died on September 21, 2011, 19 days after her birth.
Although a hospital report does not put the complications down to labetolol, it is also not ruled out.
The serious incident investigation report states: “In the absence of a confirmed metabolic diagnosis the likelihood that a very rare response to labetolol was the cause of her death increases but it is not possible to prove this was the cause of her death.”
Danny and Samantha have since had a healthy baby daughter named Caitlyn, who is 12 weeks old.