Newstalk ZB
When 11-week-old Azariah Levi died, he weighed around 3kg – about half what a baby of that age would typically weigh. Now, a coroner has issued a warning to parents over the importance of regular Well-Child Tamariki Ora checks, and seeking help from medical professionals if there are concerns about feeding and weight gain. Baby Azariah’s parents were monitoring his weight loss themselves in the days before his death – weighing him after feeds, and feeding him with a syringe. But Coroner Ian Telford said, in findings released today, that while Ariana and Allan Levi were aware of concerns, and taking steps they believed would support his wellbeing, the case highlighted the “vital role” of regular assessment by “suitably trained health professionals”. Parents saw weight was slowly dropping According to the findings, Azariah was born at home in Matamata on August 27, 2023, without midwifery support, or any antenatal or postnatal care. His mother told the coroner this was driven by “a deep mistrust of the health system”, which she attributed to perceived clinical errors during her previous pregnancies, and another child’s treatment in hospital. She told the coroner that her pregnancy with Azariah was normal, his birth was without complications, and he breastfed normally. However, on November 12, his parents noted he was “not his usual self” – crying more than usual and not settling although he was reportedly feeding normally. The next day, Azariah’s feeding noticeably reduced, he was sleeping longer than usual, and his “cheeks were going flat”. They started weighing him before and after every feed and “could see that his weight was slowly going down”. They said they prioritised feeding him every hour to get his weight back, and gave him expressed milk with a syringe. Coroner Ian Telford has released findings into the baby's death. Photo / Supplied Around 6pm on November 15, however, they observed he was having difficulty breathing, with slower breathing than usual and “holding his breath for less than 10 seconds” and “his lips were going blue…” They decided to take him to hospital, and began to get their other children ready. At 8pm, they tried to feed him again. He vomited a “clear yellow liquid”, and Azariah’s father said he then “held his breath for a long time which really worried us, his eyes rolled back, and I was really concerned, so we called an ambulance”. The ambulance was phoned at 11.24pm, and the couple started resuscitation immediately, guided by the call handler. Azariah was taken to Waikato Hospital but despite “extensive efforts of all those involved”, could not be revived. A pathologist later concluded he died because of “failure to thrive”, with a metabolic disorder considered the most likely explanation. Following Azariah’s death, hospital staff notified the police, raising a number of concerns, including that he had not received antenatal, postnatal, or Well-Child oversight, and appeared to be severely underweight. Police investigated, which included interviews with Azariah’s parents, and scene photographs recorded a diary documenting feeding and nappy times, as well as a stethoscope on one of the beds. The police noted that Azariah’s parents are members of a Christian church, and recovered an audio recording from November 2023, in “which a man speaks briefly about healing in religious terms”, offering a prayer of anointing for Azariah, referring to concerns about his weight loss. Ultimately, the police determined that criminal liability could not be established. While mindful of the “profound grief” experienced by Azariah’s parents, and not wishing to add to their distress, in Coroner Telford’s view, the baby’s death was preventable, and timely medical intervention would have likely “altered the course of events”. Faltering growth, metabolic disorder A paediatrician, Dr Soper, engaged by the coroner, found evidence of Azariah failing to grow as expected from shortly after his birth, despite his parent...
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