Premature baby dies after NHS staff abandons mother to give birth alone

A woman is demanding answers after she was left alone to go through premature labor in a hospital of the UK's National Health Service (NHS). She ended up delivering her baby on her own, and the baby later died.

Key Takeaways:

• Ashley Lamb contracted an infection after undergoing an amniocentesis at 23 weeks, which she claimed was botched by a doctor still in training.

• She went into premature labor just days after the amniocentesis, which she said she was not told could be a complication of the procedure.

• When she felt the need to push, the midwife left her alone, and Lamb shouted for help, but no one came, leaving her to deliver her premature baby on her own.

• Medical staff didn't arrive for several minutes after her daughter had been born.

• Her daughter had to undergo multiple surgeries and repeatedly had to be resuscitated, and eventually, the decision was made to remove her from life support.

The Details:

Lamb is speaking out about her horrific experience, claiming the NHS is not providing her with any answers as to why she was left alone to deliver her baby. Her case is part of the largest maternity review in NHS history, and though officials agreed to settle, the NHS also refused to admit any liability, leaving Lamb without any answers.

According to Lamb, she received substandard care at two separate Nottinghamshire hospitals: one at which she underwent her amniocentesis, and the other where she went into premature labor.

Her ordeal began in March of 2021, when she underwent the amniocentesis at Queen's Medical Centre, a procedure in which a needle is inserted into the uterus to extract a small amount of amniotic fluid. Doctors were running the test out of concern for the possibility of a birth defect. Amniocentesis is typically performed before 23 weeks. Lamb claims she was told there was a one percent (1%) risk of miscarriage, but was not informed of other risks, including premature labor, or that the procedure could take several attempts.

"I truly don't feel that the risks were properly explained to me," she said. "That's not what informed consent looks like."

Lamb claims that a needle was inserted into her abdomen four times, while the NHS claims this was done twice.

"When you're not getting answers and you're told that what you're remembering is wrong, it is really, really frustrating," she said. "My other half was there as well, he watched the procedure happen — he said they definitely went in four times. I had four plasters covering the needle punctures."

Later, Lamb was taken to Nottingham City Hospital when she went into premature labor.

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"Around six days later I went into labour and had the neo-natal intensive care team all in. But at the point where it came to giving birth I was left all by myself to deliver Lexie, which was terrifying," she recalled. "I was in the room with a trainee midwife, I believe it was a midwife, but she was definitely a trainee and I told her I needed to push. I was screaming for help and she went off to find it but it was several minutes until anybody else entered the room and by then I had given birth.

"I didn't [know] what to do, should I leave her on the bed? It was really frightening and then all of a sudden the room was full. We were told it would probably take ages for me to give birth so Jamie had gone home to let the dog out, so I was all alone."

Lexie weighed just 570 grams, or a little over one pound, and suffered severe complications due to prematurity.

"She was taken into intensive care, she had severe brain bleeds and a bowel perforation, [and] she couldn't breathe on her own. I asked why I was left by myself in the room and the response I got was 'sometimes these things happen,'" Lamb said. "I was told that if I had given birth full term then Lexie would have been healthy and survived. I believe it was a combination of both the amniocentesis and being left to give birth by myself, which may have contributed to her death. Brain damage can happen with premature babies but she had severe brain damage, so it could have been a factor. The problem is the hospital have never given any straight answers."

Why It Matters:

Senior midwife Donna Ockendon is now leading the largest maternity review in NHS history. The review will investigate every facet of maternity care at NHS hospitals, including stillbirths, neonatal deaths, injured babies and mothers, maternal deaths, and antenatal care.

The review closed to new cases in May of 2025, with Ockendon expecting to publish her findings in June of 2026. But the allegations of neglect are so widespread that even police have been taking action, with Nottinghamshire Police announcing it would be launching a corporate manslaughter investigation over the injuries and deaths of babies in its maternity units.

Another mother, Mojeri Adeleye, likewise lost her child after NHS staff refused to believe she was telling the truth about her baby's gestational age. Doctors left her baby to die.

Another premature baby died after the on-call doctor chose to communicate with staff using WhatsApp, a social media platform, rather than addressing the infant's needs in person.

“We have found this really shocking. We didn’t know anything about a consultant who should have been present until we read the SAER report. It has been pretty devastating to find this out,” the baby's mother said. “Aside from the fact they’re using WhatsApp anyway, which is definitely not the way medical information should be shared between professionals, I know from doing personal training sessions in this hospital previously how bad the phone signal and WiFi are. It’s unbelievable to think they were sending such vital information this way.”

The Bottom Line:

Parents put their utmost trust in medical professionals, and in the United Kingdom, the NHS may be abusing that trust.