‘I was blamed for my baby’s death’: Mums share experiences of maternity care in the Midlands

Three mothers who gave birth at hospitals in the Midlands say they felt let down by maternity services, with one woman saying she was even blamed for her baby's death.

Katie Russell, Divina Johnson and Sarah Sissons have all called for urgent change in maternity care in the region after they were left feeling like they did not get the care they deserved.

More than two-thirds of the 27 hospitals with maternity units in the Midlands are currently rated as 'requires improvement', or worse.

Three are ‘inadequate’ and just 10 are classed as ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - and none achieve the top rating of ‘outstanding’.

A midwife whistleblower has described the 'crisis' inside maternity wards in the Midlands.

Now three women have spoken exclusively to ITV News Central about their experiences - as they call for the government to step in.

'My whole world came crashing down'

Katie Russell's daughter Poppy died in Shropshire in 2021, just 12 hours after she was born.

Foetal monitoring was part of Katie's birth plan, and she told ITV News Central that this was needed as "frequently as possible".

"It didn't seem that the monitoring was that regular during the actual water birth, but as my first child, I didn't know any different," she said.

After a prolonged labour, Katie needed an emergency caesarean section. But it was too late. Poppy lived for just 12 hours.

Watch Katie's story...

She said: "My whole world came crashing down. It was the worst feeling anyone could ever experience."

"Our house was set up to welcome a new baby and having to go home without that child was just the worst thing in the world," she added.

An inquest found Poppy's death was preventable, as staff had failed to properly monitor her heart rate.

The coroner dismissed claims by the trust that Katie had declined monitoring.

She said: "There were many things that I couldn't believe were said about me, and they were really hurtful. You think it's not bad enough that your child's died? You're now being blamed for it."

Afterwards, Katie and her husband Neil began fighting for answers.

"It just felt like we were fighting an uphill battle and we were on our own," she said.

"We were fighting to try and say, no, this happened to us, and what happened wasn't right. It wasn't fair. And no one was listening."

She added: "It shouldn't be down to families to have to stand up and fight after going through so much. They should be recognising this themselves.

"The government should be recognising it. The hospitals should be looking at their own patterns.

"People need to make change otherwise this is just going to keep happening, and the number of bereaved families - mums, dads and parents across the country - are just going to keep growing, and continuing to fight until it’s just too much."

Shrewbury & Telford Hospital Trust has apologised to Katie and Neil, with chief executive Louise Barnett acknowledging it was due to failings in care.

She said: "We are truly sorry. We have made many improvements to our services since 2021, but Mr and Mrs Russell’s experience shows us that we have further to go.”

'I just wanted to get out alive with my baby'

Divina Johnson had a normal pregnancy and assumed when her waters broke at 41 weeks, that labour would be the same.

However, she was horrified by the care that she received.

Speaking to ITV News Central, Divina said: "I was probably in that fog, dazed shock for a year of just flashbacks, nightmares.

"I was told that I was taking a long time. It felt like a problem, that we need to just get this woman to have her baby and to move her on. There was never communication about what was happening or why this was happening."

Watch Divina's story...

Divina was told that she needed an epidural, which she says left her in the worst pain she has ever known.

"I kind of felt like it was an out-of-body experience. I feel like I could see myself just shaking in a type of pain that I've never experienced before and I know that [the midwife] had hit a nerve," she said.

"I remember when I was just lying there, her laughing at me and saying 'Oh people don't normally act that way when I give them an epidural'."

Divina continued to have shooting pains and spasms across her body.

After nearly two days in labour, she was given a caesarean section.

She said: "I remember feeling so numb, and not just physically because I was numb, but just emotionally. I remember just thinking, 'Can anyone see me? Does anyone see, me?'"

Divina says she felt as though no one cared for her, and that what was supposed to be a caring and nurturing experience, was not.

"I didn't expect to get good treatment, I didn't expect to be cared for. I just wanted to get out alive with my baby, because that was the level of expectation that I had," she said.

As a result of the treatment she received, Divina struggled to bond with her baby after birth. She's since had two healthy babies but said the trauma often comes back.

'I was given an adoption leaflet'

After devastating failings in care at Nottingham City Hospital, Sarah Sissons was told her son Ryan would never walk or talk.

Ryan suffered brain damage from poor care after his birth. He had seizures and became jaundiced after struggling to feed.

Sarah said: "Ryan was bright yellow. He was clearly a very unwell baby."

She said she was forced to plead with staff for help.

"Despite me asking several midwives for help, they were just too busy. They would come in, walk round, turn my buzzer off and leave," she said.

Watch Sarah's story...

Ryan had been having hypoglycemic seizures for at least 12 hours.

"I stood in the doorway and I said you're not leaving this room without my child," she recalled. "He needs to be seen, there is a problem. Ryan's brain was scanned at five days old and there were huge areas of damaged brain.

"I was told that Ryan wouldn't walk, wouldn't talk. Here's a leaflet for adoption because you'll never be able to look after a damaged baby."

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust accepted responsibility for Ryan's brain injury.

The chief executive at the Trust says they know they have much more to do and are focused on improving services.

Sixteen years on, Ryan is defying the odds.

Sarah said: "My Ryan is a miracle. We essentially brought home this very damaged baby and myself and his dad spent hours and hours on the floor with him making him do his milestones.

"I do sometimes question what he would have been if he wasn't damaged. But I'm really lucky that I'm still here and he thrives.

"He has a fantastic quality of life and he's just a really nice boy."

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