Manslaughter probe carried out amid dozens of stillbirths at NHS hospitals

The Nottinghamshire police force has intensified its probe into maternity failures at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, following the start of its inquiry in June 2025.

Key Takeaways:

• An investigation into dozens of stillbirths, infant deaths, and abortions is underway in the UK.

• Between April 2014 and February 2017, there were 35 stillbirths at Nottingham University Hospitals.

• The stillbirth of Harriet Hawkins led to an external review, which found that her death was "almost certainly preventable." It resulted in a £2.8 million settlement—the largest for a stillbirth negligence case. 

• The review has revealed patterns of poor monitoring, delayed interventions, and dismissive attitudes toward parental concerns, resulting in preventable infant deaths.

• Some parents aborted their babies after receiving prenatal diagnoses, and after the abortions were shown to be healthy.

The Details:

Known as Operation Perth, the probe examines the trust's leadership regarding deaths and injuries caused to numerous babies and mothers. The investigation began in September 2023, amid increasing proof of widespread negligence at NUH's City Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre, where hundreds of babies died or sustained serious injuries.

By June 2025, Detective Superintendent Matthew Croome formally opened a corporate manslaughter investigation under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, scrutinizing whether the trust's management was "grossly negligent" in overseeing operations that led to these tragedies.

Strikingly, Operation Perth has been conducted in parallel with the NHS’s largest-ever maternity inquiry, led by independent senior midwife Donna Ockenden.

Nottinghamshire Police revealed that detectives have so far scrutinized 232 out of 360 family case files obtained from Ockenden and her team. The review first examines the standard of care provided to each family before forwarding the files to police, who then determine whether any criminal offenses may have taken place. The force added that it is cooperating “increasingly closely” with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which has sought the services of an experienced specialist barrister for consultation.

Baby Harriet

The 2016 stillbirth of Harriet Hawkins at Nottingham City Hospital after a trouble-free pregnancy showcased repeated denials of liability by hospital management, igniting calls for wider accountability.

Harriet's mother, Sarah, was in labor for six days before Harriet was born nine hours after dying in the womb. An external review ruled that the stillbirth was "almost certainly preventable," resulting in a £2.8 million settlement—the largest for a stillbirth negligence case. 

Additionally, Nottingham Magistrates Court imposed a £1.6 million fine on the NHS trust — the largest maternity-related penalty ever — for a "catalogue of failures" leading to the 2021 deaths of babies Adele O’Sullivan, Kahlani Rawson, and Quinn Parker. These incidents revealed unsafe care and treatment, violating basic medical responsibilities during childbirth.

Between April 2014 and February 2017, there were 35 stillbirths at NUH, yet contrary to the standard practice of Serious Untoward Incident (SUI) Investigations, no investigation was carried out until Harriet's parents pushed for one. It was then that the NUH decided to review one year’s worth of stillbirths and upgraded 10 of them to SUIs.

At that time, Detective Superintendent Matthew Croome from Nottinghamshire Police stated,

"The offences relate to circumstances where an organisation has been grossly negligent in the management of its activities, which has then led to a person’s death.

In such an investigation, we are looking to see if the overall responsibility lies with the organisation rather than specific individuals, and my investigation will look to ascertain if there is evidence that the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has committed this offence.”

The Ockenden review has unraveled patterns of poor monitoring, delayed interventions, and dismissive attitudes toward parental concerns, resulting in preventable infant deaths:

• Ashley Lamb, gave birth prematurely after she developed an infection following an amniocentesis. She gave birth alone at Nottingham City Hospital, and her baby died.

• Mojeri Adeleye 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.

Some couples underwent abortions after being informed by the same NHS trust that prenatal testing showed that their babies had life-limiting genetic conditions — diagnoses that were subsequently shown to be mistaken. An internal probe into these wrong diagnoses uncovered “a series of deficiencies in care, knowledge and process," a report by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) stated. 

• One parent acknowledged, “We thought the best option was to end the pregnancy because the baby was suffering." Their baby had been diagnosed with Patau’s Syndrome, but six weeks after the abortion, the couple was notified that the diagnosis had been incorrect.

• In another case, a family reported being urged to terminate the pregnancy following test results suggesting a serious genetic disorder. They chose not to proceed with the abortion, and their baby was later born without the condition.

In 2022, The New York Times drew attention to the high inaccuracy rate of non-invasive prenatal screening tests (NIPT), revealing that certain prenatal genetic tests are wrong up to 93% of the time.

Why It Matters:

Parents place their utmost trust in medical professionals, and the NHS appears to be abusing that trust.

In addition, Live Action News has previously reported on the concerns surrounding the inaccuracy of prenatal testing, which is marketed as a way for expectant parents to learn if a preborn child has a genetic health condition. However, the tests are meant to be used as a screening tool — to show that there is a chance the child may have a health condition for which to prepare. Further diagnostic testing is recommended and necessary. Yet the tests are being used as diagnostic tools, leading to devastating abortions.

Regardless of a child’s health status, no child deserves to be actively and intentionally killed because of a health condition or disability.

The Bottom Line:

As Operation Perth advances into 2026 with an expected conclusion in June, the review could spur new nationwide safeguards and stricter supervision in maternity wards.