Families of nine babies who died at a hospital trust are calling for a national public inquiry into NHS maternity services.
They also warn a separate inquiry is needed to prevent more “unnecessary deaths” at the trust, where nine babies died and four mothers barely survived between 2021 and 2023.
Now families have come forward with fresh allegations of failings at two hospitals run by the scandal-hit University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
They wrote: “All our babies were otherwise healthy and would have grown up if not for the failings in care and the dismissal of our concerns. Our children lost an entire life; they never got a chance to grow up, to learn to walk and speak, to make friends, to witness the awe and beauty of our planet.
“Though our babies left their mark on this world in many meaningful ways, they had so much more to give. This is a loss to us as parents, to our families and to society as a whole.”
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Abigail Fowler Miller died in January 2022, two days after she was born by an emergency C-sectionThey continued: “With the volume and repetition of errors in maternity care by the trust, we believe that babies and potentially mothers will continue to unnecessarily die under the trust’s care unless there is additional intervention.”
The group includes the parents of five babies who died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and four who died at Worthing Hospital between 2021 and 2023.
Emergency
Abigail Fowler Miller died in January 2022, two days after she was born by an emergency C-section in a foyer at the Royal Sussex.
Her mother, Katie Fowler had gone into cardiac arrest in a taxi on the way into hospital, after midwives relying on over-the-phone assessments allegedly missed warning signs of massive internal bleeding. An inquest found Abigail would likely have survived if her mother had received medical care earlier.
Another baby, Orlando Davis, died at Worthing in September 2021 after maternity staff failed to realise his mother, Robyn, had a rare fluid imbalance called hyponatremia. An inquest found his death was “contributed to by neglect”.
And Esme Vowels Lovett died in February 2022 after staff at Worthing Hospital dismissed mum Chloe’s concerns about stabbing pains, reduced movements and bleeding during the late stages of her pregnancy.
Chloe and her husband, Toby, had been trying to conceive for seven years and had experienced several miscarriages. An investigation found staff missed six opportunities to intervene before Esme’s death.
Other children who died, but cannot be named due to ongoing proceedings, include a baby boy who was stillborn at 37 weeks after his mother was advised over the phone to stay at home, and a baby girl who was stillborn at almost 40 weeks after her mother twice attended hospital concerned about reduced movements but no appropriate action was taken.
Two more boys died after failures to carry out appropriate monitoring. The worst maternity scandal in NHS history was uncovered at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, where a report blamed poor care for the deaths of more than 200 babies.
Donna Ockenden, the independent midwife who investigated Shrewsbury and Telford, is now carrying out an inquiry into Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. More than 700 families have contacted the review team.
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The Maternity Safety Alliance, a group of relatives of newborns who have died due to lapses in NHS childbirth, said scandals will continue unless a national inquiry is held.
Maternity services at the Royal Sussex, in Brighton, were downgraded to the lowest safety rating of “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission in 2021.
At the time, it warned of issues including a lack of trained staff, poor patient assessment and response to risk, and poor governance.
Although the CQC has noted some improvements have been made since, maternity services at the Royal Sussex remain “inadequate”, while services at Worthing are classed as “requires improvement”.
Dr Maggie Davies, chief nurse at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We offer our deepest condolences and sincere apologies to each of the bereaved families for their devastating loss. Whilst we recognise that no words can ease their pain, our dedicated teams are committed to listening, learning and improving the service, so mothers-to-be, mothers and their babies are as safe as they possibly can be whilst in our care.
“We have recruited more midwives, changed how we listen to and support families, and we have a nationally recommended triage process to help react quickly if there are any reasons for concern.
“Our outcomes for mothers and babies are now better than most other trusts in the country, but we know we must continue to listen and improve, and would always want to meet any families who have concerns to understand their experiences and make changes where possible.”
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