A BABY girl has tragically died after doctors failed to induce the child’s mother for 60 hours due to “a lack of hospital capacity”.
Chelsea Wootton, 31, was sent home by staff at Birmingham City Hospital despite being 31 weeks pregnant.
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The expectant mum, from Pheasey Farm Park, then pleaded for a C-section when her waters broke, but was rebuffed as doctors rushed to address other emergencies at the ward.
Chelsea gave birth to Ava-Lea Humphries on August 27 last year.
However, the baby developed sepsis from a lack of oxygen in the womb and died the following day.
An inquest into the tot’s death at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court heard that delays in her maternity care were responsible for Ava-Lea’s demise.
“It’s almost impossible to find the words to describe what the last year has been like,” Chelsea said.
“When we found out we were expecting we were overjoyed and couldn’t wait to welcome Ava-Lea into our lives and start our family.
“I wasn’t told about any risks of going overdue and even after my readmission to hospital, I was never given the impression there was anything to worry about.
“Even though I was a first-time mum deep down I knew something wasn’t right.
“I kept trying to raise concerns and I asked for a caesarean but I felt I was being ignored.
“It was only when concerns were raised about Ava-Lea’s heartrate did it feel that our care was a priority. By then it was too late.
“Seeing Ava-Lea after she was born was awful. We can’t thank the neo-natal doctors and nurses for everything they did for Ave-Lea and make her as comfortable as she could be.
“We’ll always cherish those precious few hours we got to spend with her but I’m not sure we’ll ever get over what happened.
“Instead of bringing her home and starting our new lives together we had to say goodbye and leave her in hospital.”
Chelsea and her partner Adyn are being supported by the charity Libby Mae’s Little Angels as they mourn their daughter’s death.
She continued: “What should have been the happiest moment of our lives turned to total despair. When we lost Ava-Lea our lives changed forever.
“We can’t thank enough those who have supported us following Ava-Lea’s death for everything they’ve done.
“Losing a baby is such as traumatic experience but people shouldn’t suffer alone as help and support available.
“By sharing our story I hope I can help other families so they don’t have to go through what we have.
“Mums know their body and need to be listened to more. I’d urge any mums to push for their voice to be heard and if they need demand a second opinion.”
A Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch investigation found there was an opportunity to review Chelsea earlier and speed up the birth through a caesarean section.
MUM’S WORST NIGHTMARE
A THREE-DAY-OLD baby died after 999 handlers took eight minutes to pick up a mum’s urgent call – before an ambulance took 30 minutes to arrive, an inquest has heard.
Senior Coroner Darren Salter concluded Wyllow-Raine Swinburn died as a result of hyperinsulinism, a genetic disorder in which the body produces too much insulin.
This led to Wyllow-Raine developing hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, which ultimately caused her heart and lungs to fail.
The coroner found that the 31-minute wait for an ambulance hadn’t directly contributed to Wyllow-Raine’s death but said the family waited “far too long” for an ambulance.
He said he would be sending a Prevention of Future Deaths report to South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust asking them to review their procedures around handling 999 calls and providing ambulances in an emergency.
The court heard evidence about the BT critical call process – where a 999 call that is waiting to be answered can be prioritised if the BT call handler hears sounds that indicate that it is a life-threatening situation.
The coroner also said he would also write to BT to better understand whether automatic messaging, which was heard during the call, may have interfered with the call handler hearing things clearly.
Wyllow-Raine was born at John Radcliffe Hospital on September 27 2022 and was allowed to go home on the evening of September 29 2022.
However, in the early hours of September 30 she became unwell and appeared to stop breathing.
Her mother, Amelia-Jayne Pill made a 999 call at 4.38am.
It took eight minutes for the emergency call to be answered by South Central Ambulance Service and East of England Ambulance Service.
The family gave Wyllow-Raine CPR while they waited for the ambulance, which arrived at 5.09am, more than 30 minutes after the emergency call was made.
The ambulance crew took Wyllow-Raine to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where she was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival.
The inquest was heard over two days on Monday and at a previous hearing on June 21 2023.
The coroner heard evidence relating to the delay in the ambulance response, the care provided to Amelia-Jayne during her pregnancy and the care provided to Wyllow-Raine prior to her being sent home from John Radcliffe Hospital.
Dr Mark Anthony, a Neonatologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust gave evidence about the care provided to Wyllow-Raine following her birth.
Dr Anthony accepted that Wyllow-Raine’s high-pitched cry might have been recognised as a warning sign of hypoglycaemia but added that, in real time, in a hospital environment, this wasn’t always an easy thing for staff to recognise.
Admitting Chelsea could well have saved the tot’s life, according to the family’s lawyers Irwin Mitchell.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs City Hospital, has since accepted liability for Ava-Lea’s death Jessica Allan.
The specialist medical negligence lawyer representing the couple said: “This is truly tragic case in which worrying failings in Chelsea’s and Ava-Lea’s maternity care have been identified.
“While most babies remain healthy over their due date the longer past this a mum goes, the increased risk there is of developing complications.
“We firmly believe that had Chelsea been appropriately advised about the risks associated with pregnancy beyond 41 weeks, she would have arranged to be induced before she reached that milestone and the sequence of devastating events that unfolded would have been avoided.
“Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case and we too often see the catastrophic consequences families can be left to face because of pressures on maternity units nationally.
“Staff need to be supported so they can uphold the highest standards of care at all times.
“While it’s too late for Ava-Lea, we join Chelsea in calling for lessons to be learned to improve maternity safety for others.
“We continue to support her and Adyn at this distressing time so they can access the specialist support they require to try and come to terms with their ordeal the best they can.”
“This is unbearably sad and we are deeply distressed at the loss of Ava-Lea,” Helen Hurst, Director of Midwifery Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, said.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to her parents, wider family and friends.
“We have all learned from this tragedy and have already enacted a plan to monitor the improvements we have made.
“We apologised to Ava-Lea’s family when we met with them to share the findings of our own investigation.”
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