Nursery Death: Baby Millie 'Choked' On Pie

A mother has demanded answers as to how her nine-month old daughter could have choked to death after being fed mashed-up shepherd’s pie at a nursery.

Millie Thompson started coughing and crying during her feed at Ramillies Hall private nursery in Stockport before her lips turned blue, an inquest jury was told.

Staff performed first aid on the youngster and then rang for an ambulance.

The baby was still breathing and conscious when a call operator advised the school to call back if her condition worsened and said paramedics were on the way, Oldham Magistrates’ Court heard.

By the time the ambulance arrived 10 minutes later, Millie had gone into cardiac arrest and less than a hour later she was pronounced dead at Stepping Hill Hospital.

Her mother, Joanne, said she wanted to know how her child died on October 23 last year.

Addressing the jury while clutching one of her daughter’s shoes, she said: “All we want to know is how our perfectly healthy daughter was dropped off where we felt she was safe and did not come home that day.

“How could she have choked on mashed potato?”

She told South Manchester Coroner John Pollard that it was only her daughter’s third full day at the school, which they had chosen on recommendation.

Millie had been “quite a confident eater” and she and husband Dan were happy that the school gave her mashed food, she said.

Nursery supervisor Alison Pope, who was feeding Millie, recalled giving the baby five tiny mouthfuls of the mashed-up meal before she first coughed.

“A little bit of food came out,” she said. “I picked her up out of the chair. She started coughing more and she started going blue.”

She said that within seconds she passed Millie to nursery assistant Samantha Sloan, who was trained in paediatric first aid.

Mrs Pope said they tried to clear her mouth of any food but there was no obvious blockage.

In a statement given weeks after the youngster’s death, Ms Sloan said staff in the dining area noticed straightaway that Millie was coughing and then taking small breaths and crying.

She stated that Mrs Pope was loudly shouting: “She’s choking, she’s choking. Help me.”

The hearing continues this week.

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Nursery Death: Baby Millie 'Choked' On Pie