A four-week-old baby boy “bled to death” after a home circumcision carried out by a nurse.
Goodluck Caubergs died the day after he was circumcised without anesthetic by nurse Grace Adeleye.
The 66-year-old — who is also a midwife — used only scissors, forceps, and olive oil to circumcise the baby at a Chadderton, Greater Manchester home on April 16, 2010.
After carrying out the procedure, Adeleye cleaned the wound with cotton wool and applied a a bandage. Between 30 and 40 minutes after the surgery, she left without checking the baby’s condition.
When the baby’s parents went to check on him, they found that the bandage had come off the wound, and there was blood in his diaper.
Adeleye denies manslaughter by gross negligence.
Adeleye and Caubergs’ parents are originally from Nigeria, where circumcision of newborns is the tradition among Christian families.
Adeleye was paid £100 to perform the operation, as the baby’s parents didn’t know the procedure was available at the NHS.
The court heard that Adeleye left a “ragged” wound that bled, and her post-operative care was inadequate.
Prosecutor Adrian Darbishire said, “The allegation essentially here is that the care she provided in the course of that procedure was so bad that not only did it cause the death of that young baby wholly unnecessarily, but it amounted to gross negligence and a crime.”
Darbishire also said that even a small amount of blood loss is dangerous and the loss of just one sixth of a pint of blood can be fatal for a newborn.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Goodluck Caubergs death was caused by a loss of blood.
