Whistleblowers accuse NHS trust of avoidable baby deaths

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnBy Michael Buchanan & Theopi SkarlatosBBC NewsSerious concerns about maternity services at an NHS trust have been revealed by BBC Panorama.Midwives say a poor culture and staff shortages at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust have led to baby deaths that could have been avoided.A newborn baby died after the trust failed to take action against two staff, the BBC has been told. The trust says it is sorry for its failings and is determined to learn when things go wrong. Concerns about two staff members, both midwives, had been raised by colleagues at the Cheltenham Birth Centre after another baby died 11 months earlier.The birth centre allowed women with low-risk pregnancies the choice of giving birth there under the care of midwives – there were no emergency facilities in the centre. In the event of complications, women should have been transferred to the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, which is part of the same trust and about a 30-minute drive away.But on both occasions, the two midwives did not get their patients transferred quickly enough.Jasper White died in July 2019 and Margot Bowtell died in May 2020. The two midwives on duty for both deaths are now being investigated by their regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council. One is suspended and the other has interim restrictions on her practice. We wrote to both midwives, but they did not respond.Ten per cent of maternity units in England are now rated inadequate for safety by the Care Quality Commission, including at the Gloucestershire trust.Midwives are often reluctant to speak out, but BBC Panorama has been talking to former and current maternity staff at the Gloucestershire trust for more than a year.They say the situation is “desperate”, and a dangerous lack of staff was something they repeatedly raised with managers.BBC Panorama has also found: Seven women under the care of the Gloucestershire trust died while pregnant or shortly after giving birth – between 2018 and 2022 – about twice the UK average for maternal deaths. The trust says not all the deaths in that period were attributable to its care In the first six months of 2023, the trust was short of more than 50 midwifery staff on average An investigation into the death of one baby, whose mother faced delays in inducing her labour, found that sufficient staffing may have altered the outcome for the babyThe mothers of Margot and Jasper spoke to the BBC about the deaths of their babies.Laura Harvey and her partner Craig arrived at the Cheltenham Birth Centre in May 2020, excited and nervous at the prospect of meeting their first child. During the night while in labour, Laura had experienced two episodes of bleeding, but says she was reassured by the midwife looking after her that it was nothing to worry about. The midwife didn’t tell the next midwife on shift about the bleeding. After six hours in labour, Laura thought something could be wrong. She twice asked for an ambulance to transfer her to the obstetrics unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. By lunchtime – on her third request – paramedics arrived. Laura remembers by then there was “a bit of commotion in the room” and they could not locate the baby’s heart rate. She says: “I remember the midwife looking at me and the terror in her face filled me with terror.” A third midwife, Michelle, a whistleblower who spoke to the BBC, was called into the room to help. “I was beginning to get a real sick feeling in my stomach by this time that something was really, really wrong,” she says. Michelle says when Margot was eventually born, she was white and not breathing.Baby Margot was then rushed to the neonatal unit at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. Hours later, the baby was taken to Bristol, 35 miles away, to receive more specialist care.Three days later, Margot’s life support was removed. Her parents spent 90 minutes with their baby before she took her last breath.”Then we drove home with an empty baby seat in the back of the car.” An independent investigation by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) took place into Margot’s death. It found that the bleeding in labour meant Laura should have been transferred to the obstetrics unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital – and that if this had happened sooner it could have changed the outcome for her baby. Eleven months earlier, the same two midwives who delivered Margot had also not called an ambulance soon enough for baby Jasper. Jasper’s health had deteriorated within minutes of being born at the Cheltenham Birth Centre, but his mother Laura White says the midwives did not seem concerned. One of the midwives gave him air but Laura says she wasn’t panicking and “quite happily passed him back to me”.But baby Jasper needed urgent medical attention and there was a 50-minute delay in transferring him to the neonatal unit in Gloucester.He died just 11 hours after being born.Midwives under PressureThe Care Quality Commission has said that maternity services at a trust in Gloucestershire are inadequate. Watch now on BBC iPlayer (UK Only) or watch on BBC One at 20:00 on Monday 29 January (20:30 in Northern Ireland and 22:40 in Wales)An HSIB investigation into his death found a total delay of almost 90 minutes between him becoming unwell and arriving at the hospital. However, it could not be sure if the delay had contributed to his death.”We got Jasper dressed in an outfit that we’d chosen to bring him home in,” recalls Laura tearfully.The whistleblower, midwife Michelle, says she had reported her concerns about the two midwives to hospital management following his death. She wanted the trust to investigate. She says she felt risks were b …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]