Mother’s fears over child ignored by One Born Every Minute hospital

A mom’s fears about her unborn child woman had been ignored by midwives at a maternity unit featured in One Born Every Minute, an inquest has heard.

Steph Sherwood claimed issues she had skilled with two earlier pregnancies weren’t ‘considered’  and resulted within the loss of life of her child woman Phoebe. 

The county council employee mentioned she instructed midwives her bump was not rising and she or he could not really feel her child shifting.

Despite elevating her considerations to midwives at Princess Anne hospital in Southampton an ‘anxious and conscious’ Mrs Sherwood was reportedly instructed that ‘it was okay’ and no additional motion was taken.

But after being born prematurely in February 2022, ‘Little Phoebe’ died aged simply two days previous and her mother and father at the moment are alleging that if Mrs Sherwood’s considerations had been checked out, the little woman might have survived.

Mrs Sherwood instructed a coroner that if her historical past – together with beforehand struggling a stillbirth and a miscarriage – had been reviewed by the well being staff caring for her, then her daughter ‘can be right here right now’.

The expectant mum mentioned ‘issues began to go incorrect’ when she observed the ‘identical sample’ of occasions throughout her fourth being pregnant as she had prior to now.

On February 10, 2024, Mrs Sherwood went to the hospital for an everyday scan to test the newborn’s heartbeat and through her appointment she instructed her midwife about her being pregnant considerations.

Despite her worries, Mrs Sherwood was despatched dwelling for the remainder of the day however was attributable to return in a while for extra common scans.

She mentioned: ‘Because of my historical past I felt prefer it was safer to be in hospital, in the event that they observed one thing they might act rapidly and having two CTGs in a day made me really feel higher.

‘Scans are anxious for us anyway as a result of we now have all the time acquired dangerous information in scans earlier than so they’re by no means a superb expertise.

‘Princess Anne is not my favorite place to be in anyway so being there by myself… I did really feel anxious.’

She returned to hospital just a few hours later at 7pm the place she underwent an emergency caesarean part.

Mrs Sherwood gave delivery to her second daughter, little Phoebe.

However the newborn was born with ‘no heartbeat’ and a ‘poor prognosis’ and she or he died simply two days later, along with her mother and father by her facet.

In a press release learn out to court docket, Mrs Sherwood – who attended the listening to with husband Karl – mentioned she first fell pregnant in 2015.

The mom of 1 mentioned whereas she was thought-about a ‘low-risk being pregnant’ however her personal mom had beforehand suffered two stillbirths and 4 miscarriages

In August 2016, the expectant mom ‘gave delivery to a stillborn child’ and the next 12 months, her second being pregnant ‘resulted in a miscarriage’.

Mrs Sherwood gave delivery once more in 2019 to a woman and two years later turned pregnant once more.

She mentioned: ‘My fourth being pregnant was with Phoebe.

‘Phoebe was born with no heartbeat. Sadly she didn’t make it.

‘No one might say what might have occurred however I consider that if my complete historical past was reviewed then issues began to go incorrect then she can be right here right now.’

Giving stay proof, the mom mentioned there have been ‘two factors’ that ‘stand out’ throughout her maternity care – which she believes contributed to Phoebe’s loss of life.

Firstly, Mrs Sherwood raised considerations that the expansion of her bump had slowed – however no additional motion was taken.

The mom had ‘all the time been two weeks forward’ of plan relating to the event of her child bump which means at 32 weeks, she needs to be displaying the expansion of a mom who was at 34 weeks.

The distraught council employee mentioned: ‘[The midwife] measured my bump and I mentioned I used to be all the time measuring two weeks forward.

‘When I used to be measuring precisely as I ought to, that was sluggish development. I mentioned the bump had slowed.

‘But the midwife mentioned she could not ship me to a different one as a result of they needed to be two weeks aside.

‘Because I used to be measuring at 32 weeks – which is what I needs to be – she wasn’t anxious as a result of that is how I needs to be measuring.

‘It anxious me due to what had occurred on 2016 – that is the way it began.

‘But as a result of she mentioned she could not ship me to a different development scan I heard there was nothing else she might – simply because I already had one and it wasn’t displaying any signal.

‘I really feel like possibly if I had extra monitoring from them then I do not know if issues would have occurred faster. If they observed the expansion was slowing they could have introduced her out earlier.’

The expectant mom mentioned she additionally instructed midwives she might now not really feel the newborn shifting.

Mrs Sherwood instructed the inquest: ‘I mentioned I did not really feel any motion and the midwife mentioned that it was okay, we take a look at different issues.

‘I really feel like if that they had saved me on the hint, it could have been picked up how she ought to have been.

‘It was the identical sample so I simply felt prefer it was reoccurring.’

Providing proof to the court docket, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Patrick Forbes, mentioned the case surrounding the toddler’s loss of life is ‘complicated and complicated’.

Discussing whether or not Mrs Sherwood ought to have been despatched dwelling, he mentioned: ‘With the historical past of absent foetal motion, while it could nonetheless have been acceptable to permit Mrs Sherwood dwelling, I feel she would, or ought to have been, allowed to come back in sooner – except she began feeling motion whereas away from the hospital.’