A pregnant mums stillborn son could have been saved on three occasions, an investigation has revealed.
Kayleigh Turton, 26, was forced to having an emergency C-section after contracting sepsis – but attempts to revive stillborn Freddie Webster proved unsuccessful.
Kayleigh had even been sent home from Kings Mill Hospital in Nottinghamshire – despite her waters breaking at 41 weeks and five days pregnant.
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has since conducted a serious incident report – which identified a number of care and delivery problems.
The investigation found staff missed three chances to escalate concerns over Freddies health after his heart rate shown signs of slowing down.
Kayleigh, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, said: I was scared and did not feel my concerns were listened to.
The pain of losing Freddie is indescribable and Im not sure well ever really come to terms with it.
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Nothing could bring Freddie back or begin to make up for what happened – but the hospital trust now needs to make sure it enforces the recommendations highlighted in the report to ensure nobody else has to suffer the feelings of anger, pain and loss we have.
Kayleigh, who had suffered with severe morning sickness throughout her pregnancy, was due to be induced at 2pm on June 10 last year after her waters had broken.
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But after attending Kings Mill with partner Scott Webster, 29, that morning, she was sent home after routine tests.
At 6.05pm that evening she was admitted to a ward at the hospital as she was showing signs of sepsis.
She was examined by a registrar and a plan for her labour initiated, with regular observations carried out.
At 2am the next day, tests showed baby Freddies heart rate was slowing down and not normal.
The CTG monitoring remained suspicious thereafter and it is understood that at 3.36am monitoring of Freddies heart was difficult to interpret.
And at 5.45am, tests again highlighted further serious concerns about his heart rate and the fact that it was very slow.
An emergency caesarean was then performed but Freddie was born showing no signs of life and could not be resuscitated.
The report found the hospital did not follow guidelines on sepsis and advise Kayleigh how ill she was or that her babys life was in danger. ·
It stated that staff missed three chances to raise concerns about Freddies condition to an on-call consultant and accepted there were opportunities to deliver Freddie earlier.
Staff struggled to contact a paediatrician to try and resuscitate Freddie because consultants had swapped shifts and not told the switchboard, the report added.
The hospital also admitted a busy ward impacted on the care Kayleigh received and the swift administering of antibiotics to treat her sepsis.
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust responded
Authorities have since drawn up an action plan in a bid to stop future stillbirths after the hospital accepted there were opportunities to deliver Freddie sooner.
Andy Haynes, Medical Director said: Sherwood Forest Hospitals would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Turton once again.
We met with Ms Turton and her family after the investigation to apologise face-to- face, offer our sincere condolences and support for the loss of her son Freddie.
A full investigation has taken place and since this happened we have made a number of changes within our maternity services.
For example we have reviewed practises around the monitoring of babies heart rates and clarified the process about how and when to escalate issues to senior colleagues.
“The trust will continue to assist fully in any ongoing legal proceedings in relation to this tragic incident.
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