PARENTS of a baby boy who suffocated during labour leading to his death have spoken of their pain and anguish.

Hayley Powsney, aged 31, of Unsworth, was admitted to North Manchester General Hospital in February 2014 where she and her husband Adam, aged 33, were told that their baby boy, Joshua, was breach.

Maternity staff advised the couple it would be best for Hayley to have a C-section, before another consultant recommended a natural birth without fully informing them of the risks involved.

Joshua's heart rate was not monitored correctly towards the end of the delivery process and he suffocated and was stillborn.

Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, which runs the hospital admitted failings in the case, though the couple claim it too more than a year to do so.

Mr Powsney said: "We got to hold our wonderful, beautiful curly-haired boy for a brief period before we lost him forever. Nobody should ever have to go through that.

"I cannot put into words the anger and upset I feel at the advice we were given that led us to believe that a natural labour would have been safer for Hayley and Joshua instead of a C-section.

"Our initial instincts to have a C-section when we found out Joshua was breach were ignored and they turned out to be right.

"We will never recover from knowing that a C-section would have saved Joshua's life.

"The amount of stress and anxiety this ordeal has caused me and Hayley and both of our families are indescribable and the hospital and trust need to acknowledge that treating people in this way breaks people’s hearts."

Sophie Fox, a specialist medical negligence solicitor at law firm JMW, is representing Hayley and Adam in their battle for justice.

Ms Fox said: "Doctors did not properly consent for Hayley to have a natural labour and also failed to monitor his heart rate during the last stages of the delivery process."

Hayley and Adam had a baby girl named Edie in February 2015 at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester via C-section, which went well.

Mr Powsney said staff at St Mary's were fabulous and acted with sensitivity as they were aware of the couple's previous ordeal.

The trust was beset with many other problems with maternity services at North Manchester, and at Royal Oldham Hospital, and launched a widescale review, published last April.

But what further upset the Powsneys was Joshua was not mentioned in it.

"We do not want anyone else to go through what we did and so it is important the trust shows that lessons have been learned," added Mr Powsney.

A trust spokesman apologised to the family for the tragic circumstances surrounding Joshua's death.

He added lessons have been learned following an investigation and shared with the Powsneys.

The spokesman added: "Over the past year we have made significant improvements in our maternity services.

"We have recruited 24 new midwives and 40 additional health care support workers to improve the individual experience of woman and babies born in the trust’s two maternity departments at North Manchester and Royal Oldham."