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The 34-year-old mother and four-day-old baby both died after a horrific home birth in June 2024<\/p>\nThe Manchester Evening News is searching for families to share their stories of giving birth in Greater Manchester, as the region has spent years reckoning with maternity care failingsThe 34-year-old mother and four-day-old baby both died after a horrific home birth in June 2024<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of people have this month read about the tragedy of Jennifer and Agnes Cahill.<\/a><\/p>\n The case has touched huge swathes of those people, who have responded with their devastation.<\/p>\n Now, the Manchester Evening News is searching for families to share their stories of giving birth in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n We want to try and take a major survey of as many people of possible, as the region has spent years reckoning with maternity care failings.<\/p>\n The 34-year-old mother and four-day-old baby both died after a horrific home birth in June 2024 \u2013 fuelled by complications that should never have happened.<\/p>\n Join the Manchester Evening News <\/strong>WhatsApp<\/strong> group <\/strong>HERE<\/a><\/p>\n On Monday, October 27, Coroner Joanne Kearsley determined that they would never have died without the devastating mistakes peppered throughout Jen\u2019s pregnancy, and the birth of Agnes.<\/p>\n Both the mother and baby\u2019s deaths after the birth at their Prestwich home were contributed to by ‘neglect’, \u2018catastrophic error\u2019 and \u2018gross failures to provide basic care\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Gross failures\u2019 to provide a mother with the right information to make an informed choice about where to give birth \u2013 after she was left so worried by her previously traumatic birth experiences that she desperately wanted better.<\/p>\n The \u2018catastrophic error\u2019 of a \u2018perfunctory\u2019 maternity care system that provided help \u2018based on assumption\u2019 and failed to ask \u2018any questions\u2019.<\/p>\n And the \u2018lack of basic care\u2019 from a community midwifery service without the organisation, experience and equipment to deal with such a grave emergency.<\/p>\n All of that was revealed in a two-week inquest at Rochdale<\/a> Coroners Court, after hearing days of evidence from the family, doctors, midwives and Manchester\u2019s maternity care bosses<\/a>.<\/p>\n But, over the last four years, the Manchester Evening News has extensively reported on a crisis in maternity care in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\n All but one of the region\u2019s maternity services is ranked as inadequate or requires improvement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Midwives have been warning of the grave dangers<\/a> to mothers and babies caused by a woefully short-staffed system<\/a>, borne out in damning watchdog reports.<\/a><\/p>\n And mothers have spoken out about how they were failed by a threadbare system \u2013 leading to millions being paid out over serious injuries<\/a>, and fatal consequences<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Jennifer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4_MEN_Jen-Cahill-01.jpg\")
A coroner found ‘gross failings’, ‘catastrophic error’ and ‘neglect’ after an inquest into Jen’s death(Image: Men Media)<\/p>\n