More than 200 babies and mums died needlessly in UK’s biggest maternity scandal
Some 201 babies and nine mums could, or would have survived if an NHS trust had provided better care, an independent inquiry into the UK’s biggest maternity scandal has found.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust presided over catastrophic failings for 20 years and did not learn from its own inadequate investigations, leading to errors being repeated.
Babies were stillborn, died shortly after birth or were left severely brain damaged following failings at the trust.
Some suffered skull fractures, broken bones or developed cerebral palsy after traumatic forceps deliveries, while others were starved of oxygen and experienced life-changing brain injuries.
Several mums also died, while others were made to have natural births despite the fact they should have been offered a Caesarean.
The damning report into the trust, led by maternity expert Donna Ockenden, examined cases involving 1,486 families, mostly covering 2000 to 2019, and reviewed 1,592 clinical incidents.
The report found there were ‘repeated errors in care which led to injury to either mothers or their babies’.
A review of 498 stillbirths found that one in four had ‘significant or major concerns’ over the maternity care given, which, if managed appropriately, might, or would have, resulted in a different outcome.
There were also significant or major concerns in the care given to mums in two thirds of cases where the baby had been deprived of oxygen during birth.
Nearly a third of neonatal deaths (those occurring within the first seven days of life) had ‘significant or major concerns’ over care which might have resulted in a different outcome.
The report said staff were ‘overly confident’ in their ability to manage complex pregnancies or where abnormalities were noted in pregnancy, and there was a reluctance to involve more senior staff.
It also found there was a culture of ‘them and us’ between midwives and obstetricians which meant some midwives were scared to involve consultants.
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