The grandson of Manchester United legend Steve Bruce, four-month-old Madison Bruce Smith, died after being placed in an unsafe sleeping position by an unregulated maternity nurse, Eva Clements.
The inquest heard that Madison’s parents, Matt Smith and Amy Bruce, had hired Clements through Ruthie Maternity Services due to their son’s difficulty sleeping.
According to the senior coroner for south Manchester, Alison Mutch, Madison died in circumstances where his cause of death couldn’t be ascertained while asleep in his cot, having been placed in a prone and unsafe sleeping position.
The court heard that Clements had advised the parents that all four of her own babies had slept on their stomachs without issues, contradicting official NHS safe sleep guidance.
The inquest also revealed that Clements, who slept in a separate room, didn’t check on Madison despite him stirring and crying during the night.
Madison’s parents expressed their devastation, stating that losing their son has been “utterly excruciating” and “totally shattered their entire family”.
The coroner has issued a prevention of future deaths report, calling for urgent regulation of maternity services to prevent similar tragedies.
