A young mother in a hospital gown holds her baby in her arms. The baby’s eyes are closed.
A study into maternity care shortcomings at a hospital in central England will be the largest study of its kind in the country.
Around 1,700 cases at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust will be examined by an expert midwife in an independent review supported by England’s public health system, the National Health Service (NHS).
It’s possible that this number could grow even further, as families can still contact researchers to participate.
A previous research by Channel 4 News and the independent found 80 cases of permanent brain damage, stillbirth or neonatal death in babies born to the organization between 2010 and 2020.
First launched in September, affected families were initially invited to participate in the current assessment through an “opt-in” consent process. But concerns, including a lack of involvement with ethnic minority families, have prompted a different approach.
Now families will have the option to opt out of the assessment. It is hoped this will provide better representation for the communities the trust serves.
In the UK, women of black, Asian and mixed ethnic backgrounds are much more likely to die within six weeks of giving birth than white women. They are also more likely to lose their babies during delivery or shortly after.
Despite this, the government recently rejected a recommendation from ministers in its own Committee on Women and Equality to set a target end racial differences in maternal death.
‘Executed with kindness’
Senior midwife Donna Ockendon – who is leading the NHS-backed research – told a meeting at the trust on Monday that she had already spoken to families “struggling to provide 24-hour care” for babies with brain damage, as well as those who have done that. lost their children.
“I spoke to a mother whose baby is so bad, she regularly wondered: Would it be better if my baby had died?” Ockendon narrated the public meeting.
“I know there are families who never took their baby home, or babies who did come home and died soon after, and I know there are little boys and girls in Nottinghamshire today, without their mummies, as we all celebrate on the end of the school year. I know there are women living with life-changing damage,” she added. “And how do I know this is true? Because I’ve met those families.”
She promised families that her assessment will be “carried out with kindness, with compassion, with expertise and professionalism.”
Trust chairman Nick Carver told the meeting that his organization has “failed the families and communities it serves.”
“On behalf of the trust board, I am committing the trust to a new, honest and transparent relationship with the families whose lives have been impacted by pregnancy failures at the trust,” he added. “For too long we have not listened to women and families affected by shortcomings in our maternity care. This ‘brick wall’ has caused extra pain and that needs to change.”
This is the latest in a series of important reviews of maternity care in England.
For example, Ockendon previously led a groundbreaking study of nearly 1,500 pregnancies at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust in the West of England between 2000 and 2019. Her research found that some 300 babies had been injured or died as a result of inadequate care.
Recurring themes in the research – and also two more executed by dr. Bill Kirkup — including problems with work culture, not listening to families, delays in escalating caesarean deliveries, and poor communication between doctors and midwives.
In the UK, midwives are an important part of maternity care and regularly conduct deliveries. They must train for at least three years and earn a college-level qualification to practice in public hospitals.
Despite studies such as those from Ockendon and Kirkup, the UK continues to outperform the US on several measures of maternal safety. It has a much lower maternal mortality than, for example, the US – but this figure has increased during the past years.