Nottingham: Maternity deaths families meet to discuss action

The families gathered in West Bridgford over the weekend

Families involved in a major review of Nottingham's maternity services have gathered to share their experiences.

Dozens of babies died or were injured at the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

The independent review into these failings is now the biggest maternity investigation in NHS history but is not expected to report back until 2025.

About 100 people met in West Bridgford to talk about the latest campaign to improve safety for mothers and babies.

Donna Ockenden is running the largest maternity review in NHS history

Emily Barley, one of the leading voices at the Maternity Safety Alliance, travelled from South Yorkshire for the meeting.

Her baby died because of failings at Barnsley Hospital, where she was not given a Caesarean in time.

She said: "We have had a series of local investigations, national schemes, all sorts of stuff has been tried but we are not actually seeing a difference, we are not seeing an improvement in care.

"Actually the latest stats are showing it is getting worse across the country, more babies are dying, more mums are dying, more maternity units are rated unsafe.

"It is a real worsening picture and we think it is time to really get a grip of all of that."

Sarah McCrackle from Bilborough, Nottingham, who lost her baby David in 2013, also spoke at the meeting.

She said: "This is the first time I've joined all the other families in the Donna Ockenden review so yes, it has been very empowering.

"Listening to the stories and realising you are not on your own through your own grief and your own journey.

"You realise there are people out there and I hope coming together we can change things in the future."

Gary and Sarah Andrews's daughter Wynter died in 2019

Also speaking were Sarah and Gary Andrews, whose baby Wynter died in 2019.

Their case saw a rare prosecution brought by CQC against NUH, which resulted in a £800,000 fine.

The pair said they both supported a national public inquiry.

"For us, we wanted people to not feel alone any more because like us at the start there's probably a lot of people out there who still feel alone," Mrs Andrews said.

"We are all here, we want to fight together for the same cause and make maternity care better."

Sarah and Dr Jack Hawkins are among the parents seeking accountability after their daughter Harriet died

Jack and Sarah Hawkins, who received a £2.8m payout linked to the stillbirth of their daughter Harriet, spoke about their driving ambition to improve maternity safety.

"[Coming here] brings a mixture of feelings, it is so soul-destroying to meet all of these people who have gone through this preventable harm, but this is strength in numbers and it's the only way the hospital and the government will listen to us," Mrs Hawkins said.

Dr Hawkins said whilst other investigations into other maternity services across the country were useful, he said the missing element was there was "no accountability".

"Hearing different people speak, it is not different things happening, it is the same two or three things over and over again," he said.

"Yet there are no consequences for the people who continue to allow that to happen."