Warning: This article contains distressing content.
His wife, Ruth, had just given birth to their first son. But after a traumatic delivery, Finn was born pale and limp, needing urgent resuscitation.
Ruth was also injured, suffering a birthing tear so severe it required surgery.
As the room at the London-based birthing centre flooded with doctors ready to whisk their son away, Martin asked his wife: "What do you want me to do? Stay with you, or go with Finn?"
Follow Finn, she told him. As the plastic cot containing his newborn son was wheeled out of the room, a sense of helplessness swept over him. "There was nothing I could do for either of them," he says, his voice breaking.
While we talk, both Ruth and Martin break down in tears, taking turns to comfort each other, but when I ask if they want to take a break, they refuse. They are clear that what matters now is sharing Finn's story.
"He was our first," says Ruth, adding that she had no idea what to expect from the birth in June 2021. "Everyone was still coming out of COVID times."
Despite this, she said the pregnancy "was smooth sailing".
"It was when we turned up for the actual birth that things went horribly wrong."
Ruth gave birth to Finn at the Oasis Birth Centre, a midwife-led unit within the Princess Royal University Hospital in Orpington, Bromley. It is mainly used for women with uncomplicated pregnancies, with access to birthing pools, massages and aromatherapy.
If extra care is needed during labour, patients are transferred to a delivery suite which the hospital trust's website says is "just seconds away".
The website adds that it intends to give parents the "control and support" they need and a place where they can "feel at home".
But that wasn't Ruth's experience.
From the moment she entered the building, she says: "I wasn't being listened to."
Despite her labour progressing quickly and feeling the "overwhelming" urge to push, the midwives largely left her and Martin alone in the birthing pool with no real guidance, Ruth says.
"I remember on a couple of occasions saying to Martin, 'Why are they not with us? Why are they not telling us what to do?'" she adds.
During this period, midwives failed to identify that Finn was in foetal distress.
Tragically, he suffered a severe brain injury as a result of complications during labour. He was starved of oxygen, a condition called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Ruth and Martin would later learn that midwives failed to check Finn's heart rate in line with national guidelines. There should have been at least 24 readings, but only eight were recorded.
One of his biggest regrets, says Martin, is that during the birth he told Ruth: "They are the professionals. We need to trust them."
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The brain damage Finn experienced during birth was so severe, consultants eventually recommended turning off the support that was keeping him alive.
Instead of leaving hospital with their beautiful baby boy, Ruth and Martin, in a deep state of shock, left with a memory box containing mementoes including a lock of Finn's hair.
"No one expects that," she adds tearfully.
"Finn had a blessing done by a vicar," Martin recalls. "Then later that day, we turned his ventilator off and held him while he died."
Ruth and Martin are now also parents to their second son, Remy, who has brought joy back into their lives. They are taking care to ensure the 17-month-old knows all about his big brother.
"We have Finn's pictures around the house. Martin handmade the cot for Finn. It's got his name engraved in it, and Remy uses it now," Ruth says. "And we had Finn's handprint made into a stamp so we can include him in birthdays and Christmas cards."
The inquest into Finn's death concluded on 25 April, Ruth's birthday.
Coroner Dr Julian Morris found there was a lack of clear leadership at the birthing centre, and a failure to follow established guidelines in place. He committed to writing to all birth centres across London to give recommendations.
"If other birthing centres operate like that three years later, the likelihood is that more children will die as a result of poor care, understaffing, and a lack of leadership and management," says Martin.
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust apologised to the Kennedy family and said it "fully accepts" the coroner's findings.
Tracey Carter, director of midwifery for King's College, said: "In recent years, we have made positive changes to maternity services at the trust, including a review of midwifery staffing, enhanced training for midwives and ensuring more senior supervision in the department at all times."
But Martin thinks the same guidance needs to be given to birthing centres across the country, to help avoid future tragedies.
For now, their focus is on their family, and getting justice for Finn.
"You have to carry on," Martin says. "You have to pick yourself up and make sure you try and get justice for your children."

Users have been complaining they were missing their alarms.
"This has probably been the third or fourth day in a row that my alarm clock has not gone off," one TikTok user Reid Manning said.
It is unclear how many people have been affected.
It has also not been confirmed if the bug is restricted to particular iPhone models or a specific version of its iOS software.
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Tik Tok user Alyssa Sarracco, missed classes after taking a nap even though she set "five alarms". "This is not me," she said in a video that has amassed 3.7 million views. "I am not the problem here."
Apple says it aware of an issue causing some alarms on iPhone to not play a sound as expected, and is working to fix it.
Some people are blaming the phone's "attention aware" feature which lowers the sound of alerts if its user is looking at the device. By switching the feature off, some users say they have managed to bring back their alarm sounds.
To turn off the feature, go to iPhone settings, tap 'Face ID & Passcode' and scroll down to find 'Attention Aware features'.
They are available on iPhone X or newer devices, and iPad Pro 11-inch or iPad Pro 12.9-inch, Apple says..
Users are being encouraged to double-check their alarms before going to bed - ensuring their settings are correct and the volume is turned up.

HR McMaster, who held the position between 2017 and 2018 during the Trump presidency, told Sky News that there is still a risk of escalation between Iran and Israel after the two nations carried out attacks on each other in April.
Iran said its attack on Saturday 13 April was a retaliation after two of its generals were killed in a strike in Syria's capital, Damascus, which Tehran blames on Israel.
Israel responded to the Iranian attack by carrying out a strike on Isfahan - home to both a military base and nuclear site in Iran.
Asked whether there could be further escalation between the two regional rivals, Mr McMaster said: "Iran is pursuing a strategy in which they hope we continue to pretend like we don't understand what the return address is for all this violence.
"And in a horrible, cynical way, Iran is willing to expend every Arab life, if necessary, to accomplish its objectives of pushing the United States, the United Kingdom and our allies out of the region as the first step in establishing hegemonic power in the region and destroying Israel.
"That's really what they want to do. And I think the longer that we act as if we don't know what the return address is, Iran is going to continue to escalate these horrible actions to create horrible human suffering not only on the part of the Israelis, but on the part of the Palestinians too."
Asked whether the West could be drawn into leading a response to any future Iranian aggression in the region, Mr McMaster said: "Absolutely, I think it's coming because Iran seems to be emboldened, even though they have all sorts of internal dissent happening now... They seem to be emboldened internationally... I think we need to tell the Iranians we're going to begin to impose severe costs on you.
"And these don't have to be military right away.
"I think there's tonnes of room to enforce the sanctions that are already on the books, the sanctions that the Biden administration chose not to enforce."
Mr McMaster also said that the reduction in capacity of the UK's armed forces "broke my heart" as military sources and Cold War veterans warned Britain is increasingly vulnerable to the threat of missiles and drones after decades of cost-saving cuts.
He added that it would be "difficult for the UK to sustain operations" for "ample duration to fight and win" in a future conflict.
In an apparent reference to some NATO countries not meeting their defence spending targets, Mr McCaster continued: "I think we have to realise that we have been over-optimistic for too long about the geostrategic conditions and the need to demonstrate strength to prevent further conflict."
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Asked whether the recent $61bn military aid package for Ukraine will have an impact on the war there, Mr McMaster said: "It's a game-changer... I hope it's not too late...
"Ukraine are fighting as best they can with what they've got. We've got to get them the ammunition now."
He added that the "halting" and "inconsistent" manner in which the US has provided aid has denied Ukraine the ability to protect its people and stop the Russian offensive.

Posting the image on social media, the palace said: "Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte! Thank you for all of the kind messages today."
The photo was taken by the Princess of Wales.
A new photo of her younger brother, Prince Louis, was also released through social media just over a week ago. The image, also taken by the Princess of Wales, was shared on 23 April to mark the young royal's sixth birthday.
Prince George, William and Kate's eldest child and the second in line to the throne after his father, will turn 11 on 22 July.
The past few months have been an eventful period for the family after Kate and King Charles were both diagnosed with cancer.
The future queen announced in an Instagram video message in March she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
Third in line to the throne Charlotte attends the co-educational private Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire and loves dancing, especially ballet and tap.
She has a reputation for being feisty compared with her older brother George and the Princess of Wales has described Charlotte as "the one in charge".
Charlotte owes her middle names, Elizabeth and Diana, to the late Queen and Charlotte's grandmother, Princess Diana.
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There were travel delays this morning and a care home was damaged in West Sussex after thunderstorms hit southeast England overnight - with a Met Office warning staying in place until 10am.
In southwest England and Wales, a similar storm warning was in place until 8am Thursday morning.
But the Met Office has now issued a third yellow weather warning for storms, covering parts of the East Midlands, West Midlands, and Wales, which will remain in force until midnight.
The wet weather and travel chaos may be sandwiched between two of the hottest days of 2024 so far.
Overnight, two buildings in Sussex were damaged by lightning strikes, according to West Sussex Fire & Rescue.
A care home in Elmer, West Sussex, was struck, causing damage to its roof, and a university building in Chichester sustained damage to its roof and power system.
The service confirmed that no one was injured and occupants were relocated while the damage was assessed.
Get the latest Sky News forecast for your area
There were travel delays on South Western Railway trains after the stormy weather, causing delays between Axminster and Honiton which were expected to last until at least 11am on Thursday.
This has affected trains running into London Waterloo, from as far as Exeter St David's.
The Met Office warned the storms overnight may trigger travel disruption leading into Thursday's rush hour, causing "difficult driving conditions and some road closures".
There is also a chance of possible cancellations to public transport, as well as power cuts.
Temperatures could reach 24C
Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said that some places could see the warmest weather of the year on Thursday, with temperatures reaching as high as 24C.
This comes after Wednesday saw temperatures peak at their highest of the year so far as well, at 22.1C.
"After a night of storms, the rain will ease in the south of England for a while," Mr Petagna said.
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"We could see the skies brightening up in a few places and it will be another warm day.
"Parts of the southeast could even get to 24C and beat Wednesday's temperatures.
"But as the skies brighten and temperatures increase, this could spark a few more thundery showers in the afternoon, so it is likely to still be a bit unsettled and the forecast will be changeable over the next few days."
Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Petagna said the forecast was a "very mixed picture".
Most of the UK is likely to experience some rain, but temperatures will remain fairly warm in the mid to late teens.
Wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures peaking at 22.1C in Santon Downham, in Suffolk, and reaching 21.9C in Aultbea, in the northwest Highlands.
However, other parts of the UK saw temperatures over 10C lower in some coastal areas - in Inverbervie, northeast Scotland, temperatures only peaked at 9.9C.