Woman lost baby after being told she wet herself

Baby Charlie-Jay was admitted to a neonatal unit with suspected sepsis

A woman whose one-day-old baby died from an infection has said she was sent home by hospital staff after being told she had wet herself, when in reality her waters had broken.

Rebecca Walker, 46, went to Royal Stoke Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent in June 2019 when she was 26 weeks pregnant, but her son Charlie-Jay was later born by emergency caesarean section at another hospital.

She has since instructed lawyers to investigate the advice she was given by hospital staff.

Bosses at University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) said they sympathised with Ms Walker but denied responsibility for the baby’s death.

Ms Walker said her pregnancy was classed as high risk as she had an underactive thyroid.

She was taken by ambulance to hospital on 12 June 2019, when she raised concerns about experiencing fluid loss and a pain in her right side.

She was told she had wet herself and that the pain was due to her baby leaning on a nerve.

She said after she was discharged the pain wore off but returned suddenly a week later – on 19 June.

She was then taken to hospital in Burton where she was told her waters had broken the week beforehand and that an infection had developed.

She was then transferred to a hospital in Bradford, and her baby was born on 20 June, but he failed to respond to treatment and medics could not get his oxygen levels up.

Charlie-Jay was only 31 hours old when he died

Charlie-Jay was admitted to a neonatal unit with suspected sepsis, but he died the following day.

Ms Walker said she was now speaking out to highlight how she was continuing to be affected by the loss of her son four years on.

She said she felt immense guilt afterwards that she had not done more to persuade doctors to take her concerns seriously.

“I really wish I had pushed for more to be done when I first went to the hospital as I didn’t feel like I had wet myself but I trusted the professionals.”

She said she did not feel like she could mourn him properly at his funeral.

“I couldn’t look at his coffin, I couldn’t kiss him goodbye,” she said.

Her lawyers have since secured a settlement from the hospital trust.

Irwin Mitchell said the trust admitted that if tests had been performed during Ms Walker’s initial hospital visit and a rupture of membranes was diagnosed, treatment would have been given.

UHNM deputy chief executive Helen Ashley said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Mrs Walker and her family for the death of Charlie-Jay and have every sympathy for the difficulties that she is experiencing as a result.”

The trust made no admission regarding Charlie-Jay’s condition and denied liability for his death.