Tag: stillbirth compensation liverpool

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A Hospital Helping Parents of Stillborn Babies

I sadly know first hand how what torture a mother of a stillborn baby endures giving birth on a labour ward. Surrounded by the cries of newborn babies it is hell.

It’s so cruel to think that in 2019, parents of stillborn babies meet their babies on the same wards as those welcoming healthy newborns.

It was really comforting to read an article in the BBC recently about a hospital in the Midlands who plan to make a separate building for parents giving birth to stillborn babies.

According to the Office of National Statistics, one in every 238 births in 2017 was a stillbirth.

In the same year, three in every 1,000 neonatal babies – those born after 24 weeks’ gestation – died.

According to the Miscarriage Association, more than one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage equating to about a quarter of a million in the UK each year.

Some of these pregnancies end up on the delivery ward.

Birmingham Women’s Hospital plans to take action and has begun fundraising for a standalone centre for families of stillborn babies and other baby loss.

Woodland House would be built on the hospital’s grounds, to help the 2,000 women and their families they see every year who have suffered miscarriage, failed IVF, stillbirth or neonatal death.

According to the BBC, a crowdfunding mission aims to raise £3.5m for Woodland House, which, if successful, will feature counselling rooms, a private garden, communal lounge for support groups and a family room.

I think this is a wonderful initiative. At the end of the day, giving birth to death is always going to amount to torture. However, anything that can be done to create better memories and make the whole experience even slightly less hellish is a positive thing. To be honest, the fact that an NHS trust has even thought about the idea is fantastic in itself.

I’ve read a lot of positive articles regarding stillbirth and neonatal death which is really pleasing as it signals a shift in opinion is respect of just how devastating and life changing it is.

You can find examples of this positivity here:

https://stillbirthclaims.com/over-a-million-pounds-to-be-spent-to-half-stillbirths-and-maternity-incidents-at-nhs-hospital/

https://stillbirthclaims.com/nhs-pledge-to-give-mothers-continuity-of-care-with-same-midwife-a-reduction-in-stillbirth/

https://stillbirthclaims.com/reduction-in-stillbirths-rates-at-hospital-in-hull/

For more information about Birmingham Women’s Hospital plans, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-48124991

If you or a loved one would like to discuss a stillbirth compensation claim or neonatal death compensation claim, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Over a Million Pounds to be Spent to Half Stillbirths and Maternity Incidents at NHS Hospital

It’s just so heartwarming to read on the Derby Telegraph website that more than a million pounds is going to be injected into Derby and Burton hospitals with this intention of halving the number of stillbirth and maternity incidents.

There were apparently 16 stillbirths at the Royal Derby hospital last year with the same amount in 2017 and more than double – 37 – in 2016. Last year, that’s 16 lives lost. The pattern of 16 families lives torn apart. Lives changed. Forever.

Of course, Derby and Burton hospitals proposal is part of a wider picture. The NHS has a long term plan to improve maternity care with the reduction of stillbirths and neonatal deaths – “Saving Babies Lives”.

In addition, the RCOG have also plans to tackle the high stillbirth rates with “Every Baby Counts” (see earlier blogs
https://stillbirthclaims.com/baby-counts-rcog-initiative/ and
https://stillbirthclaims.com/each-baby-counts-2018-progress-report-2/

In line with the mission of “Saving Babies Lives”, the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) says there is an aim to halve stillbirths, maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and serious brain injury in newborn babies by 2025.

Nearly a year ago, the Perinatal Institute found that 19 baby deaths at the Royal Derby between 2013 and 2016 “might” or should” have been preventable.

I genuinely commend the UHBD for allocating budget to the cause of saving babies lives in reducing stillbirth and neonatal death. One cannot underestimate the effects that a stillbirth or neonatal death can have on a family (I sadly know this first hand) and to read that a Trust is prioritising this is amazing. Hopefully more Trusts will follow suit.

For more information see: https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/more-million-spent-halve-stillbirths-2870697

If you or a loved one would like to discuss a stillbirth compensation claim or neonatal death compensation claim, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Hospital Under Review – Stillbirths and Neonatal Deaths

I’m both sad and frustrated to be sat at my desk writing this blog. Another hospital under review. Another hospital not affording a reasonable standard of care to mothers and babies. Another hospital not meeting national targets.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has received its fourth warning in eight months according to an article recently published in the Daily Mail.

The Care Quality commission (CQC) has issued a section 31 warning which means that the Trust faces closure if changes are not made.

Apparently, the most recent warning concerned a lack of staff in A&E particularly paediatricians.

An independent review is being conducted after 250 cases of poor maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust over the last 20 years. The review started in April 2017 following which many more families came forward over stillbirth, neonatal and child deaths.

It emerged that a failure to properly monitor heart rates played a contributory factor in five deaths whilst another two were found to be suspicious. Legal action taken and Inquests resulted in the finding that seven deaths were avoidable.

An investigation by the Trust found that two babies died from oxygen starvation to the brain ‘contributed to by delay in recognising deterioration in the foetal heart traces and the missed opportunities for earlier delivery’. 

In September 2018 the West Midlands Quality Review Service warned Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust about its lack of trained staff in paediatric resuscitation. 

The report noted that paediatric staff were only available ‘9am to 10pm Monday to Friday and 12 noon to 10pm on Saturdays and Sundays’. 

‘Reviewers considered that a child could arrive and need resuscitation after 10pm and that a member of staff with appropriate competences to lead the resuscitation might not be available.’

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust attribute the lack of available staff due to a strain on the service with a rise in patients. As a result, the Trust has approved spending of over £1 million for additional staffing in an attempt to combat the problem.

I don’t understand how poor care can get so out of hand but looking at the situation with a my positive eyes, I sincerely hope that the extra staff employed will greatly improve the care given and that all those families get the answers that they are striving for.

For more information please see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7014485/Scandal-hit-NHS-trust-centre-baby-deaths-review-receives-warning.html

If you or a loved one would like to discuss a stillbirth compensation claim or neonatal death compensation claim, please do not hesitate to contact us.