British hospital admits its failures caused full-term preborn baby’s death

The Royal Oldham Hospital has admitted fault in the death of a preborn baby girl, according to the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N).

Amy Harrison was nearly 42 weeks pregnant with her baby girl Harper in May of 2020 when she was left alone in a hospital room all night without being examined by a doctor or a midwife. It was the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and she was not allowed to have her husband Jamie with her in the hospital.

“I’d got to almost 42 weeks – 41 weeks and five days and I’d had no signs at all. I was told to ring the hospital and book an induction,” she said. “I was getting a bit worried that I was way too far overdue.”

But hours after being induced, “nothing was happening” and the contractions she did have had stopped after she was given pain medication. That night, she was left alone without anyone checking on her. When she asked medical staff to check her baby, her request was denied because the baby had allegedly been checked two hours prior.

“The staff failed to monitor me as they should have done, my contractions were getting more and more intense,” Harrison told the M.E.N. “I was getting quite emotional because I was on my own and in a lot of pain. A staff member said they would move me and put me in a room on my own — looking back, I think that was the big turning point.”

That night, the only contact she had with staff was when she left her own room to ask for pain medication. The following day, she had still not given birth and was becoming “more and more concerned about reduced movements” of her baby. It was only after a shift change that a staff member finally came to see her. Harrison asked why she was having contractions but was feeling less movement from the baby.

“I told the midwife ‘I’ve been in this room since 11 pm last night, no one has been in.’ Her face dropped. I could tell that wasn’t normal,” said Harrison. The midwife checked the baby and Harrison knew something was wrong because it was taking a long time, and then a senior midwife came to check, and then a sonographer came in to check the baby, and he finally told her the heartbreaking news that baby Harper had died.

READ: Newborn baby saved thanks to surgery performed during labor

The couple launched a legal case against the hospital and an internal hospital probe along with an investigation by the Health and Safety Investigation Branch were carried out. Following these investigations, the Northern Care Alliance, the hospital trust which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, admitted multiple failings by the hospital staff, including failing to transfer Harrison to the labor ward, failure to properly record her medical notes, reduced staffing that failed to communicate effectively, failure to monitor Harrison and her baby, failure to carry out multiple physical checks, and “failure to, adequately or at all, monitor Amy’s and the foetal wellbeing” including the baby’s heart rate during labor.

In addition, the hospital was also discovered to have a “culture of acceptance of delays.”

“But for the alleged negligence, [Harrison] would have been transferred to the labour ward. ARM [artificial rupture of the membranes to induce labor] and/or continuous monitoring would have taken place. Harper would have been born alive,” said the hospital trust.

The hospital further admitted that “had appropriate monitoring of the fetal condition been carried out, CTG [cardiotocograph/contractions] abnormalities would have been seen in the period leading up to fetal demise. This would have led to earlier delivery, with Harper being born alive.”

Dr. Chris Brookes, chief medical officer for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, told M.E.N., “We also again extend our heartfelt sympathy to [the couple] for the devastating loss of their much-loved baby.”

Royal Oldham Hospital also carries out abortions on preborn children.

Harrison said that as a first-time mother, she didn’t feel empowered to ask the medical staff questions, but is urging other mothers to speak up when they feel something is off. She also wants hospital and maternity services to evaluate the level of care they are giving patients — both mother and baby.

“Losing Harper has had an absolutely catastrophic impact on my life,” said Harrison, “and in many ways, I am a shadow of my former self.”