Poor maternity care at Hull Royal Infirmary risked babies' lives, say mums

Maternity services at Hull Royal Infirmary have recently been described in a damning report by the health watchdog as chaotic, unsafe and not fit for purpose. Three mothers, who claim staff missed signs of life-threatening conditions that could have killed them or their babies, have spoken to the BBC about their harrowing experiences at the hospital.

One woman, a BBC journalist who does not want to be named, said she knew her newborn son was seriously ill within minutes of giving birth at the infirmary in 2021.

"As soon as they handed him to me, I noticed something was wrong. He was panting and his breathing wasn't right," she said.

Over the course of an hour, she said her concerns were dismissed by the newly-qualified midwife who said his breathing was "completely normal".

"She kept reassuring me over and over that's how babies breathe. I felt like I was drowning surrounded by lifeguards," she said.

But after being examined by a more experienced midwife, the baby was rushed to intensive care and diagnosed with potentially fatal sepsis.

The woman was told he might not survive.

"It was like time stood still. The midwife ripped him off me and she slammed an oxygen mask on his face, called the crash team and he was taken away to the neonatal intensive care unit.

"The anger I felt was overwhelming because I'd been saying for nearly an hour he was seriously ill. I was right and he had sepsis."

A few months after her son's birth, she read about an inquest into the death of a four-day-old baby who had sepsis and was born at Hull Royal Infirmary.

A coroner found that midwives had failed to respond to his infection quickly enough.

"My blood ran cold because it was exactly the same circumstances that happened to me and that baby died. I thought they clearly haven't learned anything," she said.

The woman added: "Given my experience and the fact a qualified midwife did not pick up on the fact he was fighting for his life shows it was a deeply, deeply unsafe environment because had I not gone on and on, he would have died."

Inspectors said the "design, use of facilities, premises and equipment did not always ensure women and birthing people were safe".

The visit, part of the CQC's national maternity inspection programme, also found it had issues with staffing and staff sickness and there were no appraisal procedures in place to ensure workers were competent in their roles.

Sharing her experience of the hospital's maternity unit, dance teacher Kathryn said she believed her son Oliver's life was put at risk because staff dismissed her fears after she developed symptoms of pre-eclampsia, a condition that can cause serious complications for mother and baby.

When Kathryn went to the maternity unit in 2022 to talk about her concerns, she was told that staff would not see her and she should go to A&E instead.

She recalled how the doctor then sent her back to the maternity unit where, again, she said staff dismissed her concerns, telling her: "There's nothing wrong with you, it's all in your head."

However, Kathryn did have pre-eclampsia and as a result her labour progressed very quickly.

"I was 9cm dilated about an hour after they popped my waters...then the baby's heart rate dropped so I had to be rushed for a caesarean.

"I had all these symptoms of pre-eclampsia. I knew I had it and they completely dismissed me and he could have died."

She added: "I think they look at a first-time mum and think 'they don't know what they're talking about'."

A third mother, who the BBC is calling Sophie, said when she gave birth in the summer, staff attempted to give her ibuprofen despite her notes saying "it could kill me".

She also described how mothers faced long delays because of staff shortages on the unit.

"I was told that once my waters had broken, I had to go up to the labour ward straight away because of the risk of the cord coming out first. But they were like, 'we're too busy'."

She added: "On the nights I was in, there were just two staff for a ward full of women, and I was thinking, this isn't enough."

Sophie recalled repeatedly buzzing for the midwives, seeking paracetamol, before she eventually "got up and went to the desk".

While not commenting on these specific cases, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said in a statement that its aim was "to ensure everyone who comes into contact with our maternity service has a positive experience".

It added: "We acknowledge that this does not happen on every occasion and, in those instances, we are sorry for falling short of families' expected standards."

Meanwhile, Lorraine Cooper, the trust's director of maternity services, said: "In August 2023, we committed to addressing the areas of concern highlighted by the Care Quality Commission.

"These include the need to improve our handover processes, identification of risk and learning from recent incidents.

"Recruitment is an ongoing issue, as it is for all hospitals, and so we have stepped up our efforts to both recruit new staff and to 'grow our own', working with the local university.

"We would encourage families to continue their dialogue with us as we make improvements going forward, as we are committed to learning and adapting to our service users' needs where there is the opportunity to do so."