Ethnicity cited in baby death at North Middlesex hospital trust

Punam Sood has secured a settlement for a mother whose baby boy collapsed and died 31 hours after being born at North Middlesex Hospital University NHS Trust.

The case was concluded within nine months of being instructed.  

Aisha's* baby was exposed to significant meconium during labour and birth, and it was decided that he should be put under neonatal review. In the hours after delivery, she noticed something was not right and repeatedly raised concerns with midwives that he had a very weak cry, fast breathing and was not feeding properly. 

Due to the meconium and Aisha's previous history of Group B Streptococcus infection the baby should have been monitored closely for changes in temperature and a feeding plan implemented. If this had been done, we allege that any deterioration of his condition would have been spotted. 

The baby fed very little and became extremely weak and his temperature dropped significantly overnight. In the morning Aisha raised the alarm as he was gasping for air and struggling to breath. A midwife came to her side but Aisha advised us that she did not check the baby and simply advised that he was just sleeping. Aisha raised the alarm again when he later became floppy and unresponsive. Sadly he died that afternoon.

A review by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found several issues with the care provided to Aisha and her son. Serious concerns that Aisha's ethnicity affected the care she received on the labour ward were also raised 

According to the HSIB report: "Evidence has highlighted that women from minority and ethnic groups have poorer experiences and felt they were not listened to when accessing maternity care in comparison to their white counterparts 

Aisha told the investigation that "she felt no one appeared to be taking her concerns seriously, which she felt was due to her ‘ethnicity’. Staff would say they would return to see her, and no one came. The report concluded: "HSIB considers there was some evidence that ethnicity impacted on the care in this case"

Aisha, who has two other children, continually asked for help from maternity staff as she knew there was something wrong with her baby but was dismissed or ignored. If the baby had been correctly monitored, his lack of feeding and temperature fluctuations would have been picked up and a care plan would have been implemented. 

Read about the FiveXMore campaign to correct racial inequality in maternity care. 

Read the MBRRACE-UK 2018 report summary stating that Black women were five times more likely to die in pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.

* name changed

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