The trust that runs Queen's Hospital has apologised for failures in the care of a third baby who died soon after birth.
George James Delaney was one of three babies born in September and October 2024 whose deaths have been examined at inquests amid concerns about maternity care at the Romford hospital.
George was born to parents Anita and Tomi on September 22, 2024, but was very ill at birth due to an infection and died two days later.
His birth was induced due to “prolonged rupture of membranes” – also known as PROM – where the waters break before labour has begun, which increases the risk of infection for both mother and baby.
An inquest heard that failures in care delayed antibiotics being given before his birth.
Midwives did not pass on all important information about the risk of infection to the obstetric team which would have led to closer monitoring, and Anita was allowed to self-administer the AmniSure test, used to determine if the waters have broken, which may have resulted in a false negative.
But on Thursday (June 18) east London area coroner Nadia Persaud concluded, on the balance of probabilities, these failures did not directly contribute to George’s death.
Anita and Tomi said: "Words cannot comprehend the pain we feel, we miss our son every day.
"We can now only hope that changes will be made in maternity care so that no-one else has to endure the heartache of losing a baby."
Nic Kane, chief nurse at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), said: "I want to apologise to George’s parents for the failures in his care.
"We are determined that his death, and the trauma experienced by his family, are a catalyst for change where we listen, learn, and deliver meaningful improvements.
"We’ve updated how we monitor high blood pressure in pregnancy; improved the conversations we have with parents when labour is induced; and we have a better procedure in place for testing whether a mother’s waters have broken."
George’s cause of death was given as multi-organ failure caused by E. coli sepsis.
On Wednesday (June 17), Ms Persaud ruled that neglect by Queen’s Hospital maternity staff had contributed to the death of six-day-old Zachariah Orefuwa Millin, who was born a month after George.
And in January, the same coroner ruled that the death of baby Ada Rose, born at Queen’s Hospital on October 13, 2024, was "preventable".
Mikhail Popov, representing George’s family on behalf of law firm Fieldfisher, said: "My colleagues and I have now supported three families at inquests over the past six months investigating the death of their babies at Queen's Hospital.
"The tragedy and heartbreak are indescribable.
"All eyes are now on the trust to fulfil their promise of ongoing improvements to their maternity service."
The trust is one of 14 NHS trusts set to be probed in relation to its maternity services, against a backdrop of a major increase in maternity 'red flag' alerts at the hospital.
Since the national investigation, led by Baroness Valerie Amos, was announced in September 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has improved its rating of maternity services at Queen's Hospital.
READ MORE:
- Hospital trust admits care failure and says sorry after death of baby girl
- Parents in 'overwhelming pain' after missed chances to save baby at Queen's Hospital
Inspectors previously advised that maternity services required improvement following an assessment in October 2024, but have most recently amended this to a 'good' rating.
Queen's Hospital was revisited in August 2025, with inspectors placing specific focus on the 'safe' and 'well led' assessment domains.
CQC maintains that 'safety' of the services continues to require improvement.
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