Let my baby die, says mother

A mother has called for her baby boy to be allowed to die to save him from leading a "miserable, sad and pitiful existence". The child's mother supports doctors who went to court yesterday asking a judge for permission to switch off her son's life support.

The boy, who for legal reasons can be identified only as Baby RB, was born with congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS), a rare condition which severely restricts his ability to breathe but has left his brain unimpaired. His father, who is separated from the mother, opposes the move and wants him to have surgery which he believes could improve the child's breathing.

Anthony Fairweather, the mother's solicitor, said in a statement outside the High Court in London yesterday: "RB's mother has sat by her son's bedside every day since he was born. Every day she has seen the pain he experiences just to survive. In her mind, the intolerable suffering experienced by her son must outweigh her own personal grief should she lose her child."

A fresh assessment of the likely success of a tracheostomy is being carried out and Martin Westgate, counsel for the father, said that if the procedure was a realistic prospect, the whole nature of the case might change.

Michael Mylonas, counsel for the NHS Trust in the case, said the boy's condition is unlikely to improve. The case continues.